I Have Made Mistakes Today
by Heart Like Memphis
Summary: Quinn confronts Jesse after what he did to Rachel. Takes place after 'Funk'. St. Berry is mentioned
1. Chapter 1

_Okay so I'm guilty of loving Jesse St. James because it's the Groff, I can't help myself. Anyway, I'm mad at him for what he did to Rachel however I'd like to add a little twist to it. I doubt that I'll add chapters to this but if you all like it then who knows.. maybe I will (:_

The rest of the Vocal Adrenaline members had all cleared out. Jesse St. James stood alone in their choir room at Carmel High School. It was nice to be back yet there was something missing. The choir room at Carmel High was so much better than the one at McKinley High. Jesse refused to admit that he enjoyed his time there. Just the idea would make all of his Vocal Adrenaline friends laugh. Besides, what was the point in thinking about how he wished he could still be a student there? After what he and the rest of VA had done he would be known as public enemy number one. His chances of being accepted there were zero, possibly even less than zero.

'I can't believe I'm doing this.' thought Quinn Fabray as she stomped through the abandoned Carmel High halls. 'That jerk deserves this though. Mr. Schue might've stopped the boys but he can't stop me." Quinn's hands were gently placed on her stomach as she made her way to the choir room. She knew that Jesse had to be around here somewhere considering his range rover was still out in the parking lot.

As soon as Quinn found the choir room she spotted Jesse standing alone. This was her chance. Quinn walked up behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and right when he turned around she slapped him in the face. It was the hardest slap she had ever given. If she wasn't so angry with him she'd probably fuss over her hand which was now just as red as his face. "That's what you get you asshole. Did you really think that you'd get away with breaking Rachel's heart and then completely humiliating her? If anyone is going to make Rachel Berry miserable it'll be me. You had no right to do that!" Quinn ranted, with each word her voice got louder and more frustrated.

Jesse's hand immediately flew up to his face whenever Quinn slapped him. Heck it was more like a smack, almost a punch. He grimaced in pain, rubbed the future home of a red hand print gingerly but stayed quiet as she yelled at him. "Calm your hormones Fabray. I swear, on any other occasion I'd be yelling at you right now however considering you're with child I'm making an exception but if I still have a hand print on my face during our regionals performance I'll really give you something to shout about." Jesse stated in a snarky tone.

His snarky tone made Quinn squeal in frustration as she went in for another slap. Jesse caught her this time. He blocked the slap by grabbing her wrist to stop her. "Now, now. You really shouldn't over do it. I'd hate for you to go in labor here. That wouldn't be good at all." Jesse gave a cocky grin as he released her hand.

Quinn didn't know what to do. She was so angry with him. She was furious. "I don't know what Rachel ever saw in you. I can't stand the fact that she's wasting tears on you. You're such an idiot, she deserved so much better than you!"

"Honey you should be thrilled. I'm going to be out of her life so she'll get her chance now won't she?"

"Well, yeah. I guess." Quinn said, her voice was still angry but it was also clear that his answer confused her.

"She hates me now. That's good for you and the rest of New Directions. It's even good for me." Jesse continued as he looked away from Quinn. He turned around, beginning to stare out the large window again. His arms were crossed as Quinn stood beside him, also looking out the window.

Quinn had timidly stepped beside him. When coming to Carmel High she had expected that she'd attack him, yell and then leave. Talking more into the subject hadn't even crossed her mind. Her hands were back on her stomach, Beth gently kicked her. It was almost as if Beth was trying to tell her mother that she needed to continue this conversation. "Uh, what do you mean?" She asked awkwardly.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jesse commented, his eyes stayed on the scene outside the window. It was a sunny day, a soccer team could be seen playing in one of the school's various fields. The people that Jesse could see appeared to be happy. How lucky.

"Not really.." Quinn mumbled which caused Jesse to roll his eyes. "That was rhetorical." He paused, out of the corner of her eye Quinn looked up at him. His face was expressionless but she saw that his eyes seemed confused, he seemed like he was trying to figure something out. Maybe the right words? The right excuse? Lie?

"Rachel hates me. Try to picture all of that hate in that petite body of hers, I'm assuming you've heard of the statement 'small but mighty'. She'll be able to use it, add it to her determination so that when it comes time for regionals there'll be no question in who wins. New Directions is good, not incredibly professional but good none the less. Rachel Berry will be a star someday. It's inevitable. She was meant to be one."

Quinn didn't believe what he was saying so she interrupted, "Okay James - " "St. James." "Whatever, we get that she hates you but how does this help you? I don't understand."

"Quinn, this is my last year at Carmel High. I'm a senior and I'll be graduating soon. I've been accepted to Julliard. Do you know where that is?"

"New York?"

"Yes, that's right. New York. Rachel doesn't know that I got accepted there. I couldn't tell her. She was so busy planning out how next year would be, she never considered me going away for school. There's no way that she'd be able to handle a long distance relationship. She needs someone who will be around for when she needs a hug or simply just needs to talk."

"Hold up, are you trying to say that you did all of this on purpose?" Quinn still didn't know if he was being truthful. This was Jesse St. James she was dealing with. It was quite possible that he was messing with her.

Jesse finally turned to face Quinn, "I was given a job to do. After completing the job I was supposed to return to Vocal Adrenaline. I never intended to attack Rachel with those disgusting eggs. That was not my plan. I was under pressure, if I showed mercy I would no longer be accepted at either school."

"This job, it was to spy on us I assume."

Jesse shook his head, "No, unlike popular belief I was only there on behalf of Ms. Corcoran."

"What, you were there to seduce Rachel and secretly introduce her to her mother?" Quinn asked sarcastically but then replayed what she had just said in her mind. "Oh my gosh.. that's actually what you were doing wasn't it?" She asked again, this time more willing to believe his next answer.

The boy nodded, "Basically although Shelby preferred to call it 'befriending'" a small smile formed on his lips.

Quinn saw this smile and sighed as she remembered all of the stories Rachel had told the glee girls about her relationship with Jesse, "You told her that you loved her.. Did you.. or do you mean it?"

"I do love her. That's something I'd never lie about."

"Then why did you go through with all of this? I really don't get it Jesse. If you love her then why not try to fight for it?"

"If Rachel hates me then that would make the break up easier for her. If I continued to be with her until I leave for Julliard then she'd be shattered. Most likely by the time I'm getting ready to leave she won't even think about me. All of her thoughts will be on that jock, Finn."

"I'm sorry for slapping you.." Quinn blurted out.

Jesse laughed softly, "It's fine. I deserved it."

"Yeah.. You did. For some reason I almost admire you for this. Even though it's a twisted way to deal with things I think you're right. This is better for Rachel. I don't know how you could give her up like that.. Falling out of love with someone is hard." Quinn stated as her thoughts drifted to Finn. There were many times when she still missed him.

"I just try to think about it in a more positive way. Sort of the whole 'If you love something, set it free; if it comes back it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was.' The timing isn't right for us. Once Rachel graduates she'll be drawn to Broadway. Maybe I'll get lucky and find her in New York. Hopefully."

Quinn gave him a shy smile, "I can picture that happening.."

Jesse slowly nodded his head, "Yeah.."

"I should probably get going.."

"Same." Jesse replied, "So, if you tell anyone about this conversation I'll deny everything. This needs to stay between us Quinn, Rachel can't find out. Please don't tell her."

"Don't worry, even though I don't totally approve you're secret's safe with me." Quinn said.

"Thanks, well, see you around Fabray." Jesse gave her a nod before stepping out of the choir room, leaving her alone.

Silence took over the room. Quinn stood still for a moment thinking about her conversation with Jesse. What he did was crazy, it wasn't normal but then what did you expect? This was Jesse St. James, he was completely unpredictable.


	2. Chapter 2

_Hello! So due to the fantastic feedback I've received for this story I've decided to continue! :) Hopefully you guys continue to like this =]_

**Quinnie **has **signed online**

**Quinnie **says: hey, how's your face?

**Jesse St. James** says: slightly red, you pack a powerful punch.

**Quinnie **says: hehe, i'm sorry 3

**Jesse St. James** says: lol better be :P so what's up?

**Quinnie **says: avoiding homework. i don't know how teachers expect me to write a 5 page essay on rome when i've got a baby beating my insides.

**Jesse St. James** says: how often does she kick?

**Quinnie **says: normally just a couple times a day but lately she's been kicking a lot. it's so annoying :(

**Jesse St. James** says: you shouldn't be annoyed. i think she's just trying to tell you something.

**Quinnie **says: maybe.. but obviously you wouldn't be annoyed, you're not the one with the baby inside you.

**Jesse St. James** says: lol i guess we guys just get luckier in that way.

**Quinnie **says: totally. you're very lucky. i wish that the guy had to go through child birth instead of the girl.

**Jesse St. James** says: male sea horses carry babies.

**Quinnie **says: then suddenly i wish we were all sea horses.

**Jesse St. James** says: haha, i'm sure you'd make a beautiful sea horse =]

**Quinnie **says: thanks (: but if you were a sea horse i'm sure that you'd be just as arrogant ;)

**Jesse St. James** says: hey now, i retract my previous compliment.

**Quinnie **says: nope, no take backs :P

**Jesse St. James** says: this is unfortunate.

**Quinnie **says: get used to it. oh sugar, i should go. mercedes is home. ttyl 3 :)

**Jesse St. James** says: okay, bye =]

**Quinnie **has **signed offline**

Quinn quickly shut her laptop as Mercedes entered her guest room. "Hey girl, sup?" Mercedes asked with a smile.

"Oh nothing" Quinn said trying to cover up her nerves. It was only day two of her secret friendship with Jesse and she was already scared of people finding out. "I have homework to do but-" She got cut off by Beth kicking her again. This kick was really hard. Quinn winced in pain.

Mercedes watched Quinn, "Beth keeps kicking" she finished Quinn's sentence, "Damn, I think that girl is gonna be a fighter like her mama." she added with a smile however Quinn who appreciated the comment gave her a look because of her use of the word 'damn'.

Mercedes took note of the look, "Sorry, my bad. Not around the baby. I get it."

"Mercedes! Could you come here please!"

The voice of Mercedes' mother boomed from downstairs.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming." Mercedes shouted back as she left the room but before she was completely gone she gave Quinn a quick wave.

Quinn gave a sigh of relief. She loved Mercedes for letting her move in and she didn't want to lie but hiding her friendship with Jesse seemed like the most logical idea. They had both decided that it was for the best.

It was day three. Quinn was heading to Glee club. As she walked through the hallway she could hear people whispering, she felt their stares. Quinn could remember that she had always been so scared of people seeing her baby bump. Back at the beginning of her pregnancy she had thought her baby bump seemed huge. It was nothing compared to the size she was now. Her baby bump was more of a baby belly now. Her fellow students would have to be incredibly dense to not realize that she was pregnant now.

The rest of New Directions was already in the room when she arrived. They were all talking and barely noticed her enter. Everyone was buzzed with excitement. Regionals were less than a week away and after proving to Vocal Adrenaline that they were capable of doing a funk number the whole glee club's confidence was on an all time high.

Even Rachel seemed chipper today. Her dreams about angry mother chicks must be starting to end. Hopefully.

"Hey guys, I'm glad that you're all here. Today I think we should pick out our songs for regionals!" Mr. Schuester explained happily as he came into the choir room.

The glee kids all began talking at once. Quinn watched them, she was the only one staying quiet at this point. The rest of them were all shouting out song names or artists.

"Whoa, whoa. Everyone, quiet down. I know that each of you have unique ideas but I have an idea of my own. If you could all stop talking for one minute I'd like to tell you about it." Mr Schuester spoke again, "What about Journey?"

"That's actually a good idea Mr. Schue." Finn said

Will laughed, "Was there ever any doubt?"

"Well no.." Finn said awkwardly but then caught himself, "I just mean, you know, Glee club basically got it's start with Journey.. singing more of their songs would be a good idea."

"Exactly!" Mr. Schuester agreed, "That's what I was thinking!"

"If that's the case then we absolutely have to do Faithfully." Rachel's suggestion was more of a polite demand. All of the glee kids were used to that by now though plus her ideas were generally good.

"Faithfully would be a great song to perform." Mr. Schuester agreed, "Anyone else have suggestions?"

"What about another mash-up?" Artie asked with a hopeful tone.

"Hm, a mash-up would need two cool songs though" Puck interrupted, "Considering I'm the coolest person here I think I'll pick those songs."

Eyes were rolled, groans and sighed were emitted.

"Anyway you want it" Puck said while thinking, "And..."

"Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'" Finn stated loudly as soon as the idea popped into his mind.

"Yesss!" Puck replied, dragging out his 's' while giving Finn a well deserved high five.

"Good job guys! I'll start working on that.. we still need one more though." Mr. Schue commented.

Quinn didn't know that many Journey songs. She knew that ones that Rachel and the boys had picked but that's because they were well known. Don't Stop Believin' was the only other Journey song she knew. It kept popping up in her head so she gave up, "Mr. Schue? What if we re-did Don't Stop Believin'?"

Everyone stopped talking and looked at Quinn. 'Great, more staring' she thought but then saw that they were beginning to smile.

"I like Quinn's idea" said Kurt, "More people should sing in it this time." Mercedes added as Mr Schue nodded, "That sounds perfect. Everyone I want you to become familiar with the songs if you don't already know them. I'll have sheet music for you by tomorrow."

With that said the room was turned back over to the teenagers who now were chatting about their song choices. Quinn wanted to participate in this however Beth was giving her problems again. She wasn't feeling the best so she excused herself to the bathroom.

Vocal Adrenaline was working on their number for regionals. Ms Corcoran was pushing them to their limits. Obviously she wanted them to do well but word had got to her about VA egging Rachel. Shelby had been furious. She had given them all a strict talking to but that didn't seem like enough. Sure they didn't know that Rachel was her daughter, only Jesse was aware of that fact but still, egging someone was a cruel thing to do. Shelby was especially disappointed in Jesse, she had trusted him. Shelby had thought that Jesse's feelings for Rachel were genuine, clearly she had been wrong.

"Okay, sing it again. I want more emotion." Shelby commanded.

"But Ms Corcoran, this will be the sixth time that we've sang it.." Jesse commented, he was the lead vocalist in this song. He didn't feel like belting it out again. His voice was getting tired and with each time he could feel himself singing it worse.

"Maybe I'm getting you to keep singing it because you're all spending too much time bullying other kids instead than practicing. You're losing your edge Jesse."

Her words stung, "It was just a prank. We're all getting bad because we have no time to rest. All we ever do is practice. I'm glad that I'm graduating this year. I'll be able to get away from this." He shot back as he glared at her,

"St. James. Gym. Now. 20 laps, 20 push ups and sit ups. I'll send the coach down to give you other suggestions for what dynamic stretching you should do. You'll be taught some respect, next time, learn to hold your tongue."

Jesse held the glare as he walked off stage and towards the gym.

Ms Corcoran sighed, she hated fighting with Jesse but he had hurt Rachel. She should side with her daughter in this situation shouldn't she? "The rest of you.. just leave. Practice's over for the day."


	3. Chapter 3

_Hm I gotta admit, I have a few ideas but I'm not entirely sure what i'll do with this story. Some people are saying that they want St. Berry, others are suggesting Jesse & Quinn. I'm a die hard St. Berry fan yet for some reason the idea of Jesse & Quinn intrigues me.. possibly because i love both Dianna & Jonathan very much but idk. Give me more feedback on your thoughts. I love comments, they make me want to update sooner (:_

"AAAHHHHHHH!"

A screaming Rachel Berry broke the silence of the night.

"Rachel, honey, are you alright?" Both of Rachel's dads stumbled into the room. They were anxious to make sure that she was okay but also were still half asleep.

Rachel sighed and slowly began to nod. She felt tired and gross. In the movies when a person was having a nightmare they still somehow looked attractive. Rachel knew that if someone was watching her sleep that all they would see was a sweaty girl who couldn't stop tossing and turning. Not attractive at all. "It was just a bad dream.."

"Another one?" One of her fathers asked, "Why are you having so many all of the sudden? Didn't they start last Thursday? Almost a week has passed since then."

Rachel bit her lip, she hadn't been able to bring herself to tell her dads the truth. The real truth that is, she told them that the dreams were about angry mother chickens but she said that she was having these dreams because she had almost eating an egg salad sandwich not because she had been egged by Vocal Adrenaline.

"I'm going to go get you a glass of water!" Her other dad stated before rushing out of the room.

Rachel knew that her dads meant well but right now she longed to talk to her mother. She wished that she could call up Shelby and discuss the situation with her. Listen to the wise advice that Rachel would like to think that Shelby had. There were a few problems with this idea though, Shelby had said that next time she would be the one to call Rachel, Rachel didn't want to accidentally push her away and also Shelby was Vocal Adrenaline's coach. Rachel feared that if she brought up the egging Shelby would side with her glee club.

Her father rambled on about how she shouldn't let these dreams control her, that they wouldn't come true and would go away soon. Her other dad returned with the water.

"Thanks.." Rachel said and managed to give them both a tired smile. Rachel began sipping the water.

Her dads sat there, watching her. "Um, I think I'm going to be okay.. You two can go back to bed.. I'll try sleeping again once I'm finished with this." She said between sips.

"Well okay, good night Rach."

With that said her dads left. She was now alone once more. Story of her life. A small tear escaped. She had, had Finn and then lost him. She had, had Puck and lost him too. Jesse was just another relationship that hadn't worked. Jesse had hurt her more than both Finn and Puck put together though. Rachel loved him, she trusted him, they had a bond that she and Finn just didn't have. Jesse returning to Vocal Adrenaline had crushed her, the egging had just made the pain worse.

When her dreams weren't about mother chicks attacking her they were about the egging itself. Images of Jesse replayed in her head. The way that he looked, the fake smile he had given her at first, the change in personality, when he pushed the egg against her face. It was like she relived that moment every time she closed her eyes.

Rachel finished the glass of water and wiped away her tears. She needed sleep, regionals were this Friday and tomorrow was Thursday. There was only one day left before she was going to lead New Directions in defeating Vocal Adrenaline. Jesse may have broken her heart but he wouldn't come in first at regionals. She would take that from him. Maybe losing the competition would break his heart because clearly losing her had no effect on him.

Thursday afternoon both Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions had their final glee club rehersals before regionals. At McKinley High Mr. Schuester had Rachel and Finn give a touching performance of Faithfully, the whole club rocked out to Anyway You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin' and solos were practiced for Don't Stop Believin'. Quinn was happy with the way her solo was sounding. She was given the option of singing a short duet with Finn during the song. Mr. Schue thought they both sounded very good together. Hearing the positive feedback made Quinn even more excited for regionals. She couldn't believe that they were only a day away. Actually no one could believe it, everyone at glee club was ecstatic.

"Oh, Mr. Schue, I forgot my sweater in my locker.. It's kind of chilly in here. Can I go get it please?" Rachel asked, they were taking a quick break so she assumed it would be fine.

"Sure Rachel, go ahead." Mr. Schuester replied.

"Hey can I go too?" Finn asked quickly, "I.. I need a drink." Finn figured that was a good enough excuse considering they had been doing a lot of singing today. Getting a drink wasn't his goal, instead of quenching his fake thirst he decided that he'd walk Rachel to her locker. Get some alone time in.

"Yeah, okay. Just don't take too long." Mr. Schue stated and then continued his conversation with Artie and Tina.

Rachel and Finn left the room. Quinn's eyes trailed them as they left. She was curious so she followed them. Because of her pregnancy Mr. Schuester allowed her to go to the bathroom whenever she pleased. Quinn walked out slowly, from where she was standing she could see Finn and Rachel climbing the stairs to the next level. Not good, if she followed them all the way upstairs that would seem suspicious.

"I thought you wanted to get a drink.." Rachel said timidly as she flashed him a small smile.

"Walking you to your locker seemed like a better idea." Finn replied while smiling back at her, "You know, um, what Jesse did to you, I feel really bad about it. They had no right to egg you. It's gross and you're a vegan which I'm guessing makes things worse.. those dreams that you've talked about don't seem all that fun either.. "

Rachel stopped walking up the stairs and turned around to look at Finn who appeared to still be attempting to find his words.

"I just want you to know that I'm here for you. I promise that I'd never hurt you like Jesse did if you gave me a chan-"

Before Finn could finish his sentence Rachel had pressed her lips against his. The kiss only lasted for a few seconds but Quinn could tell that both teenagers had enjoyed it. She was slightly grossed out at the sight.

"I just want you to know that even though I am vulnerable right now that's not why I kissed you." Rachel stated as she began walking up the stairs again.

Finn followed her, "I know. I'm happy that you did kiss me.. I think we should get ba-"

Their voices were muffled as they arrived on the upper level. Quinn sighed, Jesse had assumed that this would happen but she knew that once she told him the news he definitely wouldn't be happy.

Quinn re-entered the choir room. She dreaded telling Jesse but she knew that she'd have to. Maybe tonight.

**Where are you? **Quinn's fingers brushed against her cellphone's keypad while typing up the text to send to Jesse.

**I'm at the auditorium. Practicing.**

Quinn read the text and then replied, **Are you alone?**

**Yes. Did you want to stop by?**

**I'll be there in a few minutes. xo.** Quinn put her phone away while she listened to Mr. Schuester give on final speech before letting the glee kids go.

Everyone cleared out of the choir room, some of the kids began to walk home other got into their cars.

"Hey Quinn, do you need a drive home?" Mercedes asked, "Um, no thanks.. I have a few errands to run but I'll be home later." Quinn replied. She walked toward the public bus stop. She hated public buses, they always seemed so dirty. Not to mention she received many stares but this was her only means of transportation right now. She was getting to big to drive her car, she couldn't ask someone else to drive her to Carmel High, what other option did she have?

Jesse sat alone in the auditorium. He was situated at the piano, he kept playing Bohemian Rhapsody over and over again. Shelby's comment stayed in his mind. Ever since the practice where she had said that he was losing his edge, basically said that he wasn't as good anymore he had become determined to prove her wrong. Jesse spent even more time practicing. When Shelby forced him to go to the gym he worked out more than what was requested. He wanted to be the best no matter what.

Quinn walked in but said nothing. Jesse was in the middle of singing and she didn't want to interrupt. She silently made her way up closer to the stage. Once he was finished she began clapping.

Jesse was caught off guard. Even though she had texted him and said that she was coming he hadn't realized that she had entered the room. He was out of breath, he smiled and moved over on the piano bench. He patted the spot beside him.

"That was really amazing Jesse." Quinn walked up on stage and sat beside him on the piano bench. "This thing can hold us both can't it.." Quinn asked more nervously, she hoped that her weight wouldn't break the bench. That would be embarrassing.

"Thank you.. and don't worry. We'll be fine." Jesse said now that he had caught his breath. He had pushed the bench out far enough so that Quinn wasn't completely squished against the piano itself.

"I hope you're right." Quinn said with an awkward laugh, "So.. um, how are you?"

"Tired. Ms Corcoran is really pushing us.. how about you?"

"Fine.. I guess. I have some bad news though.." Quinn said while looking down at the keys.

"What is it..?" Jesse asked cautiously.

"It's about Rachel." Quinn continued to stare down at the keys.

"Oh.." Jesse also looked down at the keys.

"I think she's with Finn now.." Quinn admitted, "I saw them kiss.."

"Well if they kissed then Rachel will definitely consider them together now." Jesse said, his tone was sad but his facial expression was emotionless.

"Yeah.. Listen I just thought you should know.. I'm sorry.."

Jesse sighed and let his fingers press the piano keys. He started improvising, hitting the keys in a random pattern that made a depressing melody. Leave it to Jesse to start playing a sad song instead of discussing his feelings.

Quinn stayed silent while she listened to his sad song. She felt bad that she had to break the news to him but they were friends now, she felt that he deserved to find out now rather then discover it on his own tomorrow at regionals. If he knew now he could brace himself for seeing Finn and Rachel together.

"I knew this would happen.. I just didn't think it'd happen so soon." Jesse's voice was hush.

"I guess she bounces back quickly?"

"Apparently."

There was an awkward silence between them. Quinn didn't like it.

"You know.. I can only play one song on the piano." She shared in an attempt to change the subject.

"And what song would that be?" Jesse questioned, he still seemed off but he was willing to let her try to change his mood.

"Oh you'll see!" Quinn brought her right hand up to the keys and using that one hand she played her version of The Entertainer.

Jesse watched her in awe before letting out a chuckle.

"Hey! I'm not that bad. I have the tune right!... Don't I?" Quinn was quick to defend herself but then she slowly became doubtful.

"No, no, you have the tune right. Just the way you play it, it's like how a small child would." Jesse grinned, "I feel like I should be insulted" Quinn complained which made Jesse grin even more.

"You need to use both hands, like this." Jesse played a little bit of The Entertainer to show Quinn what he meant.

"I can't do that.. Whenever I try to play with both hands the left one just doesn't keep up. I get all confused too."

"I'll show you." Jesse gently took hold of her hands and placed them over the correct keys. He then continued to show/help her play the right keys.

It was almost beginning to sound like a song when suddenly Beth started acting up again. "Ow!" Quinn groaned in pain, one of her hands smashed down on the keys, the other hand desperately grasped Jesse's shoulder for support.

Jesse didn't know what to do. "Please tell me that you are not going into labor right now." He said with a worried expression. He was not joking right now. "Quinn, are you okay?"

"Not really." She replied, she winced as the pain got worse. Her grip on Jesse was getting tighter. It was beginning to really hurt him. He was sure that if he took off his shirt now he'd be able to see marks from her digging into him.

"Okay listen, I'm going to take you home right now." Jesse got up and tried his best to help Quinn walk to his range rover. If Beth kept this up Jesse had a feeling that he'd be able to meet her soon.


	4. Chapter 4

_So I'm still on the edge between St. Berry & Jesse/Quinn.. I feel so indecisive! It's terrible lol. Oh well, I wanted to get another chapter up before Regionals aired on tv so keep up with the reviews, I'm happy that people are still enjoying the story. I like writing it so it works out well =D_

Quinn spent the night before regionals tossing and turning in her bed. No matter how she situated herself she couldn't get into a position that was comfortable. If she did get somewhat comfortable that would change in a matter of seconds when she was consumed by severe pains. Quinn was scared, she didn't know what was going on or why she was having such terrible pains. The pain would start in her lower back and then descend into her stomach, pelvis, and legs. Her due date was still two weeks away, these pains shouldn't have been happening so early. She wanted her mom. Her mom would know what to do to make her feel better. Mercedes and her parents were helpful but Quinn didn't want them to see her in such pain plus she didn't want to keep them up all night with her.

Regionals. The time has finally come. Mr Schuester arrived with New Directions. Ms Corcoran entered with Vocal Adrenaline. Other glee clubs were wandering around the scene too but everyone couldn't be distracted from the tension between New Directions and Vocal Adrenaline. They only made contact for at least 30 seconds before heading to their separate practice rooms but the glares that were given before parting were ones that would scare the average citizen.

Two other glee clubs would be performing before Vocal Adrenaline. New Directions were going to be last. Everyone gathered in the auditorium. Vocal Adrenaline was sitting at the back so when it came time for them to go back stage they could exit quietly without disturbing the audience. The first glee club went on stage and the competition started.

Quinn watched quietly as the first glee club sang their songs. They blew the crowd away with their rendition of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah. Quinn had to give them their props, they had set the bar pretty high. The next group went on stage. Baby Beth gently kicked Quinn. She ignored the pain and looked over at her fellow glee club members, they were all busy watching the next group get ready to perform. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Vocal Adrenaline getting ready to go out back. She saw Jesse. He didn't look good.

She felt worried so she followed them. Once again she used her bathroom excuse. Following Vocal Adrenaline wasn't the smartest idea considering they were supposed to be going on stage next but Quinn needed to talk to Jesse. Even though she was a member of New Directions she still wanted him to do his best. Vocal Adrenaline took over a small practice room. Ms Corcoran was getting them to do vocal exercises.

"Pssssst, Jesse." Quinn whispered, luckily for her he had been the last member to enter the room so he was the closest to the door.

Jesse stopped his warm ups and looked at the door. He saw the blonde and with a confused expression he wandered toward her. "Quinn, what are you doing here?" He asked as he went back into the hallway.

"I.. I don't know.. I was worried about you." Quinn admitted

"I'm flattered but you really shouldn't be here." Jesse shoved his hands into his pockets as he spoke. He may have used a polite word choice but Quinn could tell by his tone that he was annoyed.

Quinn was not going to accept his tone. "Jesse, what's wrong? Why did you seem so sad when you left the auditorium? Don't bother with giving me excuses. You don't have much time so just get it over with." Quinn was becoming good at speaking her mind. She wasn't going to let Jesse beat around the bush here.

Jesse avoided eye contact when he answered her, "I saw them kiss."

"Rachel and Finn.." Quinn said aloud, more to herself than him.

"Yes, when we first arrived." He mumbled.

Jesse tried to put up a wall that made it seem like the break up with Rachel didn't bother him. Quinn could see right through that wall.

They could hear Shelby giving Vocal Adrenaline a speech. Quinn knew that she needed to let Jesse go back into the room however she didn't want him to leave on such a sad note.

"Stop thinking about them."

"I'm trying but it's hard not to." Jesse sighed.

She needed to get Rachel and Finn off of his mind. He needed to think about something positive, something that wasn't depressing. A happy Jesse would pull off an amazing performance, a depressed one just wouldn't cut it. Jesse had been practicing too much lately, she wouldn't let him blow it.

"Jesse? Jesse St. James? Where are you?" Shelby called out.

Jesse looked at Quinn, "Duty calls" He said sadly.

"Wait!" With out thinking Quinn grabbed his collar and pulled his face close to hers so that she could give him a kiss.

Her grip loosened when she realized what she had just done. Jesse slowly pulled away, he seemed just as shocked as she was. Suddenly Quinn was scared, yes she had wanted to put something else on his mind but was this the right way to deal with things? What if he didn't like the kiss? What if he didn't like her in that way? She wasn't exactly the best catch, sixteen and pregnant, kicked out of her own house. Wait, why was she even thinking like this? Why did she care? They haven't even been friends for that long. This was just a spur of the moment deal, nothing more than that. Right?

"Uh.. thank you? I.." Jesse wasn't making any sense. He stumbled on his words and Ms Corcoran kept yelling his name.

"Just go." Quinn waved him away, "Good luck." she added with a sheepish grin.

Jesse waved before re-entering the practice room. "Sorry, needed a drink." he told Shelby who had been waiting for an answer. She finished her speech and now that Vocal Adrenaline was all together it was time for them to head out. The practice room was connected to another hall that lead to the stage. Jesse lead the group out there. His mind drifted to thoughts of Quinn and the kiss. He didn't know why but now he felt happier. He was beginning to feel buzzed, all pumped up and ready to rock out.

The room was dark when Quinn went back to her seat in the crowd. The spotlight started shining on Jesse as he began singing. Quinn felt herself smiling, the weird pains from the night before reared up. She grimaced and clutched at her stomach.

"Are you okay?" Artie whispered.

She took a deep breath, "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine."

Quinn tried focusing on Jesse and how good Vocal Adrenaline sounded. She hoped that if she kept her attention on them maybe the pain would stop.

"Okay guys, are you ready? Let's go" Mr Schuester said as he lead New Directions to the practice room.

When walking to the room Quinn felt even worse. The pain wasn't letting up. She tried her best to hide it and really everyone was too excited to notice. Mr Schue started giving a speech that was similar to the one Shelby had given Vocal Adrenaline. Quinn didn't pay attention at all. She felt sick and scared. Why wouldn't these pains go away? She couldn't go on stage like this.

Rachel and Finn were all set to go on first so that they could sing Faithfully. The rest of the glee club members were to stay hidden until it was time for Anyway You Want It/Lovin' Touchin' Squeezin'. That bought Quinn a little time but would it be enough?

The crowd went wild when Vocal Adrenaline finished their songs. Bohemian Rhapsody was a success. Jesse wanted to go thank Quinn. He felt on top on top of the world right now. It was like how he always felt after a fantastic performance but this time it was even more amazing. Words couldn't describe.

Vocal Adrenaline exited the stage but Jesse wandered back to the practice room. When he went inside he was greeted with a room full of glares. "I left my phone in here.. I think.." He lied before someone could snap at him. He pretended to look around the room. Finn and Rachel went out to sing their song. The rest of New Directions watched them. Jesse was subtle when he moved over towards Quinn. He continued to keep up his act but unlike New Directions Jesse actually noticed that Quinn was in pain.

"Hey, are you alright?" He questioned as he looked down at her.

Quinn felt tears run down her cheek as she shook her head. "No, I think my water just broke."


	5. Chapter 5

_Mhmm, I'm gonna say that this is basically part 2 of the previous chapter. You get it sooner because they go together xD plus i'm in an incredibly good mood because today was my last day of school (Y) :D_

_"Hey, are you alright?" _

_"No, I think my water just broke."_

Jesse's jaw dropped. "Are you being serious right now?"

"No I was just joking" Quinn said sarcastically through the tears, "Of course I'm being serious!" She snapped. There had been a brief break between the pain which she now was labeling at labor. She let out a whimper as she clutched her stomach.

"Uh, okay. Um. Hospital, you need to go there." Jesse was in shock now, he turned around, her friends needed to know the news. "Hey gu-" They were on stage. Rachel and Finn had finished their song and the whole club was rocking out to their next Journey tune.

"No, no, no." Jesse mumbled, "uh..Oh! Mr. Schuester!" he spotted the teacher standing in the hall close to the stage, watching his kids perform.

"Not now Jesse." Mr. Schuester knew about the egging, he was not impressed with what Jesse had done to Rachel. He wasn't in the mood to let this arrogant kid ruin New Directions moment.

"But Mr. Schuester, it's Quinn! She's going into labor!" His words were coming back to him but they were rushed.

Mr. Schuester turned to the boy and looked passed him to see Quinn who appeared to be in a lot of pain. "Oh my god. We need to get her to a hospital!"

"I know!" Jesse agreed.

"Would someone just get me out of here!" Quinn bellowed angrily. The pain was frustrating her. Labor was not going to be a fun experience.

It was time for Don't Stop Believin'. Quinn had a solo in that song but clearly couldn't sing it. Mr. Schuester had been prepared for an event like this. He had gotten Kurt to practice the same solo in case of emergency. This was his time to shine.

"Jesse!" Quinn said pleading.

Jesse looked at Quinn and then at Mr. Schuester. "I'll take her. I'm taking her. Come on Quinn, let's go."

From the way Jesse spoke Mr. Schuester could tell that he was trying to calm himself, saying what he was doing made things seem more real. "Quinn, we'll be there as soon as they're done!" He shouted as Jesse helped walk Quinn out to his range rover.

It had been a stressful car ride. Quinn wasn't bothering to hide her pain any longer. She'd scream out whenever the contractions started. Jesse was scared, he didn't know how to handle this situation. He tried to calm her down but nothing he said seemed to work so he just drove as fast as the speed limit would take him.

"Can someone help us? My friend's in labor!" Jesse stated loudly as he helped Quinn walk into the hospital. Almost immediately two nurses rushed over to them and took Quinn from him. They put her into a wheel chair and wheeled her to an empty room.

Jesse watched as the nurses took Quinn away. He wanted to follow but his feet wouldn't move. He needed a moment to adjust. He was still wearing his costume, a bright pink shirt with black pants, shoes and suspenders. People were bound to stare at his fluorescent clothing but he didn't care. He wanted to check on Quinn.

His head was spinning as he rushed off down the hallway in search of the room they put her in. He followed the screaming which he unfortunately recognized to be hers. He felt like he was now in a medical drama. He could picture the scene, the man rushing down the hall in slow motion, dramatic music playing while he tried to see if the girl was alright. There was only one thing wrong with this scenario. It was actually happening and it was happening fast. Real fast.

Just as he was about to enter the room a nurse met him. "You did a good job, your friend is going to be fine now. She's experiencing contractions, they're lasting for about 60 seconds with five minute breaks in between."

"Is she in a lot of pain?" He asked nervously, the nurse smiled at him. She could tell that he didn't know a lot about labor or giving birth. "Yes but it's a good thing. The contractions mean that her baby will be able to come out soon." The nurse stated with a smile, "You can go in if you want."

Jesse nodded, "Okay.. thanks." He said before entering the room. The other nurse was already in there. Quinn was changed out of her black dress and into a light blue hospital gown. She was laying down on the bed. She smiled when she saw him.

"Hey. She said softly, he pulled a chair over close to her bed. He sat down. "Hey." he replied, "Are you ready for this?" He asked copying her soft tone.

"Not really. What if something goes wrong?"

"Nothing is going to go wrong. Just try to relax."

"That's easy for you to say, in a matter of minutes I'm going to be having another stupid contraction." Quinn complained

"They aren't stupid, the contractions are supposed to be good. They mean that the baby will be here soon." Jesse was proud that he had a little knowledge on the subject now.

Quinn rolled her eyes but then grabbed onto his hand when another contraction took place.

"Man that was so awesome!" Finn said as he rushed backstage with the rest of New Directions.

"We rocked!" Artie agreed and Tina nodded, "I can't believe how great we sounded!"

"Hopefully it was good enough to win." Rachel commented, "My solo sounded fantastic, we'll win for sure." Kurt stated.

"What do you think Mr. Schue?" Mercedes asked as she looked at her teacher.

"Guys, we need to get out of here." He said urgently.

"What? Why?" Finn questioned, "They haven't even announced the winners yet!" Rachel added.

"Quinn's in labor that's why!"

"Woah, what!" Puck exclaimed, "Now?"

"Yes, now. She should be at the hospital right now!"

"Oh my god" Santana and Brittany said in unison.

"Everyone just shut up. We need to go. Now!" Puck said harshly.

The group listened to Puck's command and exited the building. Shelby spotted them leave, it confused her but she needed to pay attention to the judges who would be making their decision soon.

Mr. Schuester lead the glee club into the hospital.

"Where's Quinn Fabray?" The question was asked by twelve worried voices. The nurse at the front desk was slightly overwhelmed by the new crowd. She told them where Quinn's room was but also explained that they all couldn't go in. The majority of them would have to wait in the waiting room.

Puck rushed into the room. He found an unexpected sight, Quinn was having a contraction but she was holding onto Jesse's hand and Jesse was trying to coach her through this.

"St. Tool. Get out." Puck's voice was angry.

"Calm down Puckerman. I'm just trying to help." Jesse wasn't in the mood for a fight.

Quinn let out a loud scream. The pain was getting worse, a nurse entered the room to see if she had started dialating yet.

The nurse could sense the tention between Puck and Jesse. She looked at Puck, "Why don't you go get her some ice chips."

"Fine." Puck mumbled and left.

"How is she?" Finn asked when he saw Puck come out of the room.

"I don't know!" Puck said angrily, "That Vocal Adrenaline loser is in there."

"What?" Rachel questioned. She and Finn were barely an item. She didn't want to see Jesse. It hurt too much.

"Right.." Mr. Schuester started, "I probably should've mentioned that.. Jesse drove her here."

"I don't believe this." Rachel said quietly from her seat.

"I need to go find ice. I'll be back." Puck let out an exaggerated groan while walking away.

The glee club was in for a long night.

Five hours later, there was still no baby Beth.

"Why is this taking so long? It hurts so much. Why can't I just get it over with?" An exhausted Quinn complained to her nurse.

"I'm sorry hun, I'm afraid we can't control these things. Just be glad that you're eight centimeters dialiated. You'll be able to start pushing soon." The nurse replied.

"Oh fantastic." Quinn's sarcasm was evident in her tone. She let out a soft yawn before looking over at Puck and then over at Jesse. Both boys were on either side of her. "Thanks for staying guys.. it means a lot."

"Don't worry about it." Jesse started, "Yeah don't. I wouldn't miss this for the world. I can't wait to meet our baby girl." Puck cut in. Jesse said nothing after that.

"Um, I'm gonna go get some air.. Do you need anything?" Jesse asked, looking at Quinn and then at Puck. When both teenagers shook their head he got up out of his seat and left the room.

Jesse was nervous walking out of there. He knew that the rest of New Directions had taken over the waiting room. He saw Artie and Tina listening to an iPod, Kurt was deep in conversation with Mercedes, Mr. Schuester sat quietly reading a magazine, Finn and Rachel were cuddling and well, Jesse didn't see Santana, Brittany, Mike or Matt. He didn't know where they had disappeared to.

Finn's arm was around her. It was weird, she felt uncomfortable. Was it because Jesse had just entered the room? She didn't know. Being couple-y with Finn when Jesse was around seemed wrong. Rachel was disappointed in herself for feeling this way. She wanted to make him jealous. Being with Finn would do that, she hoped. Things didn't appear to be working though. Maybe it would take some time? Rachel didn't know if she could last this long. She hated him for what he did to her, the egging, breaking her heart. It was all bad yet for some strange reason she missed him. She couldn't understand it. She didn't like it.

Jesse ran a hand through his curls. He sighed, his eyes avoided the glee club members. He pretended to read some pamphlets. A few minutes later Jesse could hear loud voices coming from Quinn's room.

"Jesse!"

At the call of his name he ran back in. The glee club looked up to see him re-enter the room.

Puck had a hospital gown on over his clothes, he on Quinn's right, holding her hand.

"Son, if you could put this on, the baby's coming." The nurse handed him a gown.

"What? No, I shouldn't be in here now.." Jesse said.

"Jesse, put it on. Please." Quinn demanded through the pain.

He looked at her and saw the death glare Puck was giving him.

"Fine." Jesse put the gown on and took his seat on Quinn's left.

"Thank you." Quinn smiled for a second as she held his hand.

The doctor was now in the room ready for the delivery.

"Alright Ms Fabray, you're dilated 10 centimeters.. I'm going to get you to start pushing on your next contraction." the doctor instructed.

Quinn nodded, Jesse gave her hand a little squeeze.

The contraction started, Quinn screamed while trying to do as the doctor instructed.

"You shouldn't be here tool." Puck spat out as Quinn squeezed his hand.

"Do you think I'm happy about this? I may never be able to play the piano again!" Jesse complained as Quinn squeezed even harder.

"Would you two just SHUT UP."

Puck and Jesse both looked at Quinn. They nodded pathetically.

"Keep going Quinn." The doctor said, "The baby will be out soon" Jesse added, "You're doing great babe" Puck echoed.

Quinn couldn't describe the pain she was in right now. It was the worst feeling in the world. She was in a lather of sweat and it felt like the baby would never come. But then she did.

"Quinn, would you like to see your baby girl?"

"Beth.." She said quietly, the doctor handed her the baby. Quinn looked down at the tiny baby in her arms. She couldn't look away. She was exhausted and in pain yet she knew that she had did the right thing. Puck was leaning in close, looking at his baby girl. Jesse smiled as he watched them.

Quietly Jesse left the room, he felt that they deserved some alone time with their baby. Everyone looked up at him when he came into the waiting room. "Beth's fine. Everything is okay." Jesse said before going to the empty part of the waiting room. He took off his gown and then pulled his shirt out so that it was no longer tucked in.

Rachel wandered over to him, she was holding two coffees. "I feel like I should shove this in your face however I'm not going to because of what you did for Quinn.." Those were the first words that she had said to him since the funk performance. "Drink this. You look awful."

"Um, thanks.." Jesse said awkwardly but took the coffee from her. He brought the drink up to his lips half expecting it to be full of mud but was met with a warm, tasty liquid instead.

"Rachel, I'm sorry. I really am."

She shook her head, "I'm with Finn now.. you've lost your chance. It's over Jesse."

Both expressions were equally sad. Rachel walked away without saying another word. Jesse sipped his coffee in silence.


	6. Chapter 6

_Goodness it's basically like part 3. lmao. I'm updating this story very frequently.. I have a lot of muse for it. But the finale is tonight! omg, i'm so excited! but also sad.. I don't want it to end! How will I survive Tuesday nights without it! lol.. well now that i've gotten that out of my system who else is excitedddd? _

Jesse sat alone sipping his coffee. He glanced over at Rachel who was now sitting with Finn again. Rachel sometimes met his gaze, if that happened they both would look away. Slowly, the members of New Directions went into Quinn's room to see how she was doing. The girls and Kurt stayed behind to keep Quinn company, Puck took the guys out to get root beers and candy cigarettes.

Almost an hour had passed since baby Beth arrived. Jesse was beginning to wonder about Regionals. The winner would've been decided hours ago but no one at the hospital had any information on it. Jesse could call a member of Vocal Adrenaline but he chose not to because he didn't want to have to explain where he was. They wouldn't be very understanding he assumed.

"Mr. Schuester.. I think I'm gonna head out. Can you tell Quinn that I said goodbye?" Jesse asked the teacher.

Mr. Schuester nodded, "Sure Jesse. You know, it's fine if you call me Mr. Schue. I don't mind." He added as he gave the boy a smile.

"Thanks Mr Schuester." Jesse caught himself, "I mean Mr. Schue. Bye."

"Bye Jesse." Mr. Schue had been mad earlier but after seeing what Jesse had done for Quinn, he felt that the boy had redeemed himself. Will also understood why Jesse didn't want to say goodbye to Quinn himself, all of the New Direction girls were in with her. They weren't fans of Jesse so he obviously wanted to avoid them.

Jesse made his way to the exit, he was met with something very unexpected.

"Ms. Corcoran? What are you doing here?" Jesse was startled when he saw his glee coach.

"I could ask you the same thing." Shelby's statement avoided the question.

"Uh, someone needed to drive Quinn.."

"But that didn't require you to stay for six hours."

Jesse said nothing. Shelby looked at him. She knew that she needed to tell him the news. "Jesse, the judges thought you were phenomenal. I thought Sue was going to kill someone if they let New Directions win."

Jesse nodded, "So does this mean? Did we?"

Shelby shook her head, "Sue Sylvester is probably off somewhere being watched by the police. New Directions won. You were given an honorable mention because of your talent. When they talked about us they mostly just spoke of you. I had a feeling that, that would happen. You gave the performance your all, you put the practice time in. I know that you did. Ever since I got on your case you pushed yourself even harder."

"You insulted me.. I just wanted to prove you wrong."

"I knew that you would but insulted seems so rude, I prefer to call it constructive criticism. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings though. I just wanted you to succeed. I wish my methods would've worked for the rest of them. They sang well but there was no emotion. That's what kept us from winning. You were the only one with true, genuine emotion during the performance. New Directions was full of emotion when they sang. They were up there having fun. I hate to say it but I think they earned it."

"You should be allowed to say it, Rachel's your daughter. You're allowed to be proud."

"I am proud."

"Good. Go tell her that." Jesse commanded, "Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to go. I'll see you on Monday Ms. Corcoran."

A nurse had just kicked the girls + Kurt out of Quinn's room. They all stared at Shelby when she arrived. Will also seemed surprised.

"Mom.. What are you doing here?" Rachel asked timidly.

"Well first I'd like to inform you all that New Directions came in first." Shelby stated

The girls buzzed with excitement.

"Congratulations guys!" Will exclaimed happily. He couldn't wait to tell the rest of the boys who were still gone.

"And now I need to talk to Quinn." Shelby said more quietly. All of the girls were talking about how excited they were for winning. No one was really paying attention at that point.

Shelby walked into Quinn's room. Quinn was alone, Beth was off with the other new born babies sleeping. Quinn looked exhausted and half asleep. "Hello Quinn." Shelby's voice was softer now. She sat down in one of the chairs by Quinn's bed.

Quinn opened her eyes to see Ms. Corcoran sitting by her bed. She was confused. What was she doing here? And where was Jesse? "Hi.."

"How are you feeling?" Shelby asked, "Fine I guess.. Really tired.."

Shelby laughed lightly, "That's to be expected after what you went through. Are you nervous about giving the baby away?" She asked casually.

"Very. More than I was before.. but not just because I'm scared of her going to a bad home. After seeing her I don't know if I actually want to give her away." Quinn admitted.

"I know the feeling." Shelby agreed as she thought about Rachel.

"I hope the parents arrive soon otherwise my mind is just going to keep changing. It's very tiresome."

"What if I said that the parent was here?" Shelby asked with a knowing look.

Quinn's eyes widened a little, "You?"

Shelby nodded, "Yes.. I've missed what I should've had with Rachel. I want a baby. That's something I can't have by myself.." She said sadly, "They put my name on a list and turns out that I was chosen for you. I know this may be a shock.. I hope it's alright.."

Talk about shock. Quinn was at a loss for words. She knew that she would be nervous meeting the parents of her new baby but now she finds out that the woman that Beth will be living with is Rachel's mother, an enemy of the glee club and someone she knew.. It was weird.

"I don't know what to say.."

Shelby nodded, "Well you think about it.. If you do choose to let me take her then you can be involved as much as you like. I won't keep her from you if you want to visit, babysit, whatever. I know what it's like to lose a child."

"Thanks.. uh, I'll let the doctors know later I guess.." Quinn said before letting out a yawn.

"Get some rest. The doctors have my number so they can let me know. For now I think I might go take a peak at your beautiful daughter." Shelby stated as she stood up.

Quinn looked at the woman. "You mean your beautiful daughter.." She said softly with a smile.

Shelby met Quinn's gaze and smiled widely. "Are you sure?"

Quinn nodded which resulted in Shelby giving her an unexpected hug. "Thank you so much." She whispered into Quinn's ear.

"Just don't shut me out of her life.." Quinn demanded, "I promise that I won't." Shelby promised, "Trust me, I'll need some help every now and then." She added.

"Okay good. Now go see Beth. She's amazing.." A tear rolled down her cheek as she spoke. A few more fell after that.

"You're making the right decision Quinn." Shelby said with a comforting tone.

"Then why is it so hard?" Quinn asked as she rubbed at her eyes.

"I don't know. It just is." Shelby replied honestly.

"Do you know if Jesse's still here?"

Shelby shook her head, "No he left when I first got here."

"Oh.." Quinn mumbled.

"Yeah.. well I'll be back later. You're going to be seeing a lot more of me now. Brace yourself." She joked with a light chuckle.

Quinn nodded, she closed her eyes when Ms. Corcoran left. Maybe she was right? Maybe she did need rest. Perhaps a nap would be good now. She tried her best to fall asleep but it was difficult due to her thoughts that kept drifting to Jesse.


	7. Chapter 7

_THE FINALE WAS AMAZING. that's all i'm saying in case some of you haven't seen it yet.. basically i'm on a glee high right now. it's pretty great._

The doctors said that since Quinn's delivery went so well she would be able to go home the next day. Quinn was glad that she only had to spend one night in the hospital. She hated hospitals. The smell, the sight, just being at one bothered her. She wasn't going to have to deal with one for a few weeks now. The doctor told her that after about six weeks she needed to come back so that he could give her another check up. When Quinn was leaving the hospital Shelby had arrived to pick up Beth. Quinn didn't talk about it with Mercedes or Mercedes' mother when they came to pick her up. She hated the thought of giving Beth up. She wished that she hadn't but there was no way that she would be able to take care of her right now. It would be impossible. Sixteen was too early to be taking care of a baby. Shelby would do a good job and she was going to let Quinn help. That needed to be good enough but it wasn't. After being taken home Quinn spent time alone in her room. If she needed anything Mercedes or her mother would get it for her.

Rachel didn't know what to think. She was going to have a sister. Kind of. Her mother, Shelby, was adopting Quinn's baby. Rachel couldn't figure out if she was excited or jealous. Having a younger sister would give her someone to show the ropes to, babysitting would make a great scenario for dating and just helping out her mother would be a great bonding experience. However Shelby didn't show a lot of interest in Rachel now. If she had Beth than all of her focus would be on that little girl. The little girl that Shelby wished was Rachel, well Rachel liked to think that her mother considered it that way. Needless to say Rachel didn't understand how she was feeling. Her moods kept changing and Finn wasn't helping.

Jesse pulled into Mercedes' driveway. He parked his range rover and simply sat there for a moment. He didn't understand why he was nervous. He was Jesse St. James for crying out loud. Quinn was his friend. His new friend. His best friend. Jesse got out of his vehicle and walked up to the front door. He rang the door bell and took a deep breath while waiting for someone to answer it. Mercedes answered it.

"Jesse. Why are you here?"

"Uh, I'm, I'm here to see Quinn." He stammered.

"She's upstairs." Mercedes blocked the door.

"Are you going to let me in?"

"I don't want to.. it's against my better judgement but after what you did for her yesterday.. I guess.." Her voice trailed off as she moved out of the way.

"Thanks.." Jesse mumbled as he walked passed her.

"Upstairs, second door on the right." Mercedes called after him.

Jesse climbed up the stairs and looked for the door that Mercedes had mentioned. It was closed. He knocked three times. Silence. There was no answer. Jesse slowly turned the door knob, opening the door he looked inside. Quinn was laying on the bed, she looked over at him.

"What are you doing here?" She asked softly, she looked tired. Jesse felt bad, she also looked like she had been crying.

"I seem to get asked that a lot" He replied in an attempt of a joke.

She didn't laugh.

"Can I come in?"

She nodded so he went over to her bed. Quinn looked up at him and then moved over on the bed so that there was enough room for him to lay down too. Silently Jesse kicked off his shoes and laid down beside her. She was under the blankets, he was on top of them. Neither of them spoke. Jesse rested his hands on his stomach. Staring at the ceiling, he could hear her breathing next to him.

Jesse turned his head so that he was looking at her, "I'm sorry for not saying goodbye last night.."

"I needed you.." Quinn said slowly, "I needed you and you weren't there." She was still staring at the ceiling as she spoke.

"What? What happened?"

"If you had've been there then you'd know." Quinn's voice was cold but full of sadness.

Jesse hated that she wouldn't look at him. He was also scared of what he might see if she did.

"I'm sorry, I was tired, stressed, I just wanted to get out of there. If I would've known that something was wrong I would've stayed.. but then all of your friends were there.. and Puck. Didn't they help you?"

Quinn shook her head, more tears began to fall.

"Quinn, please don't cry." Instinctively he tried to wipe away her tears but she pushed his hand away. Quinn turned on her side so that she was turned away from him, facing the wall.

Jesse turned on his side, sat up a little bit and used his elbow to prop himself up on a pillow. Crying girls, they were a boys enemy. No guy ever knew the correct thing to do or say when it came to an emotional girl. Quinn was in pain. Jesse could obviously see this but he didn't know how to help her deal with it. The only thing he wanted right now was to see her smile. He wanted to make the pain stop. Timidly, he touched her shoulder. He expected her to push him away again but this time she didn't. He took this as a good sign. "Quinn, talk to me. I can't help you if I don't know what's wrong.." Once again she didn't speak. The only sound she was making were her silent sobs. "Okay, do you not want me here or what?"

She reacted this time. "No don't leave me." Quinn cried, tears streaming down her cheek as she turned to him. "I just.. I don't know.. Just please stay. I don't want to be alone." Jesse sighed, "I'm not going anywhere." He stated as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him. Quinn rested her head on his shoulder while hugging his body. This would've been much more enjoyable if she didn't still have her pregnant body. She couldn't wait to lose all of the weight she had gained.

"Is this about Beth?" Jesse asked after a minute of silence.

"I miss her.. I miss having her with me. I'm beginning to think that maybe giving her away was a mistake."

Jesse could feel tears seeping through the thin material of his shirt.

"I think it's natural to feel this way.. She was a part of your for a long time.. Remember she's going to a good family though."

"Shelby's adopting her."

"What? Shelby Corcoran?"

Quinn nodded her head against him.

"Wow.. that explains why she was at the hospital.." Jesse commented, "How do you feel about that?"

"I don't know.. I mean I know Shelby.. but she's Rachel's mom. Although she said I could be as involved as I want.."

"That sounds like a good deal to me"

"I know, but what if I start helping Shelby and it just makes me miss Beth even more. What if seeing them together reminds me of everything I could of had."

Jesse rubbed her back, "Fabray you are over tired. You had nine months to make this decision and you know that you made the right one. If you don't choose to help Shelby then that's no big deal. If you do help her I'm sure that you are going to feel proud of yourself for doing something good. I don't think you understand how happy Shelby must be thanks to you. When you're married and ready you'll be able to have kids of your own. Shelby doesn't have that opportunity. She can't have kids."

Quinn met his gaze, "How do you know that?"

"She tells me things. Just trust me. This time next year you'll be off ruling the school or being an amazing babysitter. It's whatever you want."

Quinn sighed, "This time next year you'll be in New York.."

Jesse bit his lip. She made a good point.

"Don't think about that."

"I don't want you to leave.. I'll miss you too much.."

"I'll miss you too."

Mercedes knocked on the door. "St. James! Time to go!"

"I'll be out in a minute!" Jesse yelled, "I guess I need to go.. Do you feel any better?"

Quinn hugged him tighter, "Yes." She kissed his cheek, "I do. Thanks."

Jesse smiled, "Good." The boy sat up, pulled on his shoes and then stood up. He looked at her, "So you know my graduation is this Friday. I want you there."

She giggled, "After all you've been through for me, I wouldn't miss it."

"That's what I like to hear. Sweet dreams Fabray."

"Good night" she replied, smiling to herself as she watched him leave.

Sunday passed, Monday came next. The day passed by slowly for Jesse. He was constantly reminded of how Vocal Adrenaline came in second at regionals. Sure they had placed but they had been expected to bring home the gold once again.

Monday at McKinley High was just another normal day. None of the other kids really cared that New Directions had came in first at regionals. Rumors started floating around that Quinn had, had her baby. That was about it. Either way the glee club kids marched through those halls with pride.

When the school ended Rachel went to Carmel High. She wanted to talk to her mother. She had been informed that considering there was less than a week left of school Shelby was just going to take Beth with her but she would be taking the next year off. Rachel walked through the parking lot and opened the back door which was close to the choir room and Shelby's office. She was met with a sight that scared her. Vocal Adrenaline. They looked angry. Each member held either rolls of toilet paper, bottles of honey or whipped cream.

"Well, well. Look who we have here." One of the boys said as he licked his lips and then started to grin.

"And suddenly I have a fantastic idea." Said another girl as she glared at Rachel.

"Grab her!" shouted someone else.

Frightened Rachel tried to run but she didn't stand a chance. Two of the male members grabbed her and before she knew it she was in the choir room. The door was closed. Ms Corcoran was nowhere to be found.

Vocal Adrenaline started to wrap all of the toilet paper around Rachel's body. They covered her with whipped cream and honey. She couldn't stop crying but she couldn't get away. She was trapped.

There were only four more days of school for Jesse St. James. He was a happy man. He was about to go home when he realized that he had left his sweater in the choir room. Normally he wouldn't care about this except he knew for a fact that his ipod was in the pocket. Jesse made his way to the choir room only to find the door closed. He peered through the glass mirror and was horrified at what he saw. Rachel, she was a human teepee.

Jesse shoved the door open.

"Yo Jesse, you're just in time dude." Said someone who Rachel assumed to be one of Jesse's guy friends.

"What the hell is going on here!" He yelled angrily.

"Chill Jesse. This little girl just got in our way. Why don't you join us? It'll make you feel better." The girl who had been with him the day the egging had taken place stated.

"Let her go." Jesse demanded.

Vocal Adrenaline continued to throw honey and whipped cream on her. It was definitely leaking through the toilet paper. It was such a mess.

"I said let her go! NOW." Jesse's voice grew louder with each word. He was furious. Even though he was trying to help her even Rachel was scared of him right now.

"Maybe we don't want to."

Jesse glared at them all. He pushed through the circle that was surrounding Rachel causing some people to back off. They had forced Rachel into a chair. When Jesse got close to her Rachel stood up. "What are you doing?" she asked, "Just come on" He commanded.

He put one hand on her back and pushed through the crowd. Vocal Adrenaline began shouting out insults and insisted that Jesse was being a wimp.

"You're being a real loser right now Jess." It was that same boy who had greeted him earlier.

As soon as they got to the door Jesse stopped. Vocal Adrenaline was still close to them. The insults continued to pour out. "Rachel go out into the hall." Rachel didn't argue. She rushed out into the hallway. When she turned back to see if Jesse was coming she was met with another image that shocked her. The boy who had been tormenting Jesse was now on the ground. Jesse had just given him one angry punch which knocked the boy to the floor. "I never really liked him anyway." Jesse stated as he walked down the hall. Rachel walked beside him.

"You didn't have to do that."

Rachel was in the girls bathroom trying get all of the toilet paper off of herself.

"Yes I did. What they were doing to you.. It was cruel and uncalled for."

Jesse was leaning against the wall. His hand was beginning to hurt from punching that guy.

"I still can't believe it. I mean the egging was bad.. but this time they were going to go teepeed your choir room again but since they ran into you they decided to teepee you instead! That is insane!" Jesse sighed, "I'm really sorry Rachel. For everything."

"It's okay.." Rachel began but Jesse cut her off. "No it's not. I was horrible to you. When we dated my intentions were all wrong. Shelby sent me to befriend you. I was supposed to bring you two together. Me changing schools and dating you were never part of the plan. I just met you and.. I fell for you.. I fell in love. I'm still in love. I had to go back to Vocal Adrenaline.. I was too scared to stay. I've never been in love before. I didn't want to get hurt so instead of letting that happen I hurt you first."

Rachel had been leaning forward into the sink trying to get honey and whipped cream out of her hair. When he started to spill his secrets she stood up straight. Water dripped to the floor.

"You're such an idiot" Rachel was shocked.

"I know, I said I was sorry. Please forgive me."

"No, I'm an idiot too."

"Huh?"

Rachel locked eyes with Jesse.

"I still love you too."


	8. Chapter 8

_so i'm writing this right now because twitter is being an idiot. stupid whale keeps popping up. those birds are gonna drop him and i will laugh! ok, enough of my twitter rage. i feel the need to say that MyBodyIsBrokenYoursIsBent's comment made me chuckle. i love a good caps rant. also i've noticed that when reading comments i see a lot of the same names. it makes me happy to know that i have readers that keep coming back =] thanks for that. i thank those who don't review too but for those who do, i love it._

Jesse St. James was in trouble. He had punched one of his fellow Vocal Adrenaline members, by now they would all be turned against him. Rachel, who was dating Finn, had admitted to still being in love with him. Then there was Quinn. Jesse didn't know what was going on with that girl. She had kissed him at regionals but that kiss hadn't been discussed yet. She hadn't expressed any feelings for him so Jesse didn't know if it had been just a good luck kiss or what! Jesse was almost afraid to bring it up. What if he mentioned the kiss and she just laughed about it now? Said that it didn't mean anything. What if he felt bad about hearing her say that.. what if it felt like another slap in the face. Two beautiful girls. One Jesse St. James. What a mess.

After Rachel had confessed her love for him Jesse had made an awkward departure. He had been caught off guard. He didn't know if that was what he wanted to hear. Rachel getting pissed off at him seemed like an easier way to deal with things. She was pissed but she also still loved him. This couldn't be good. Jesse had went to such a dramatic extent to end things so that she wouldn't get hurt when he left. Hearing that she was still in love with him hurt. Getting back together with her wouldn't do them any good. If it lasted they'd just have to break up again by summer's end. Jesse could imagine Rachel being okay with only a summer romance. He wasn't even sure if he was okay with any of it.

Jesse needed time to think. The next few days he started to avoid both Quinn and Rachel.

Rachel wanted to talk to Jesse. She wanted to see him again. He had saved her from the nasty members of Vocal Adrenaline. She was grateful for that. It had been just as bad as the egging. Sometimes she wondered if she had gotten all of the honey and whipped cream out of her hair. Currently it was a Wednesday night. Rachel was on a date with Finn. They had went to the movies but it was getting late so Finn drove her home. They were parked in her drive way.

Finn leaned in for the kiss. "I love you." He said as he pulled away.

Rachel looked into his eyes. Oh no. Word vomit.

"I still love Jesse."

The happiness in Finn's eyes was gone. It was replaced with anger.

"What? You can't be serious right now."

"I think.." Rachel's voice was hushed. She was frightened by the anger she saw in Finn even if she was the one causing the problem.

"You think? Rachel when you love someone you either do or you don't. There's no 'I thinks'."

Rachel said nothing.

Finn let out a frustrated sigh, "Rachel I love you. I don't even have to think about it, I just do, but if you think you still love Jesse then we can't be together. I refuse to be with you until you're sure."

"That's fair.. I'm really sorry Finn. I hope it doesn't take me long to figure things out."

"Goodnight Rachel." Finn said coldly.

Rachel got out of his car. Finn drove away. Finn may have tried to keep calm when he was with Rachel but now that she was gone his anger was going overboard. Tomorrow he needed to talk to someone who would share his hatred. Puck.

Thursday afternoon. Glee club would be meeting up soon. So far in the choir room only a few of the boys were there.

"Punch him" Punk stated.

"Trust me, I want to." Finn agreed, "Well if you don't then I will." Puck continued, "There's something going on between him and my girl too."

"Since when are you and Quinn dating?" Artie questioned suspiciously.

"We aren't. He's probably the reason why." Puck snapped, "I even told her that I loved her. I thought girls loved that kinda thing. She should be begging me to date her again."

"Wow Puck, that's real deep." Kurt commented, he was annoyed by this conversation. He was beginning to get along with Quinn, he didn't want to hear the guys talk this way about her.

"Shut it loser."

"Dude don't." Finn gave Puck a look. Puck frowned, "Sorry.."

"Thankfully my girl loves what she's got. She hasn't caught the Jesse fever that's been going around." Artie smiled to himself.

"Lucky you." Puck's sarcastic tone caused Artie's smile to grow smaller. "I think we need to pay St. Douche a visit." Finn nodded.

Their conversation ended. The girls, Mr. Schuester, Matt and Mike entered.

Kurt and Mercedes were sitting at the back. Quinn was sitting on Mercedes' right, Kurt on her left. He pulled out his phone and silently texted her while Rachel and Mr. Schuester discussed future song choices.

**I have news.**

Mercedes flipped her phone open and read the text. She gave him a confused look.

_**Why are you texting me then?**_

**If I said it outloud I might end up in a trash can.**

_**Over my dead body. What's your news?**_

**It's about Finn and Puck. They're gonna visit Jesse.**

_**So? What's the big deal about that?**_

**The big deal is that before everyone got here they were saying how much they wanted to punch him.**

_**Omg. Seriously?**_

Kurt and Mercedes shared a worried look.

**Yes. **

_**We can't let them do that. Jesse was a jerk to Rachel but he's actually good to Quinn!**_

**Wait, how do you know that?**

_**He came over earlier this week.. The door wasn't closed completely.. I might've eavesdropped for a bit. lol.**_

**Sneaky. haha. What should we do?**

_**Idk. I don't think telling Rachel or Quinn would be a good idea..**_

**And why not? If we told them they could confront their boys before Jesse gets his face pummeled.**

_**That's a good point but I know you just want to do that cuz it'll cause drama ;P**_

**Maybe. Who knows? ;)**

_**Fine. We'll tell Rachel & Quinn after.**_

**Someone needs to distract the guys.**

_**I'll do it. You should tell them cuz you heard the conversation.**_

**Ok.**

Mercedes and Kurt both looked at each other and nodded. They put their phones away and waited for glee club to be over.

When it was over they noticed Finn and Puck shared a nod. It didn't seem good. Everyone was still chatting, Finn and Puck were the only two who seemed to want to clear out of the choir room. Mercedes stood up and got ready to go after Finn and Puck. There was a knock on the door, Jesse stuck his head in. "Hey"

They all looked over at him. "Hello Jesse." Mr. Schuester said politely, "Come in?"

"Actually I was wondering if I could speak to Rachel.. out here.." Jesse looked at Rachel. She got up out of her seat and walked towards him. While she was walking Jesse's eyes caught sight of Quinn. He tried to give a small smile in her direction but he wasn't sure if she noticed.

"Seriously?" Puck whispered angrily to Finn. Finn said nothing, he simply sighed as he watched Rachel go out into the hallway with Jesse.

Jesse reclosed the door once Rachel was with him. The hallway was deserted. They were alone.

"What did you want to talk about?" Rachel questioned.

Jesse looked down at the girl. He had been planning what he needed to say to her ever since the teepee incident.

"Rachel, I love you."

"I love you too."

"No, I wasn't finished. I do love you.. it's just different now. I went along with the egging because I knew that would make you hate me. I'm going to Julliard. I thought that you wouldn't be able to handle saying goodbye so I felt that if you hated me things wouldn't be that hard. I thought that later on in life maybe I'd get lucky and run into you again in New York. I don't want that anymore."

"I.. I don't understand, what are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I love you as a friend. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Oh my god."

"I'm sorry." Jesse said, "No, it's not that.. Last night I told Finn that I loved you."

"Oh." he replied caught off guard,

"I said that I thought I loved you.."

"And do you?"

"I don't know.."

"Well if you don't know then my guess is that you don't." He stated, "Listen, I hope you can fix things with Finn.. or if not then find someone that does make you happy. When I leave for New York, promise me that we won't lose touch."

"I'll be at your broadway debut"

They both smiled.

"When it comes time for yours I promise that i'll be on stage with you." Jesse said with a grin.

"I'll look forward to that." Rachel looked back at the choir room door, "I should probably go start my damage control.."

"Good luck."

"Thanks, I'll need it."

"Hey can you send Quinn out?"

Rachel nodded and soon enough she was back inside and Quinn had entered the hallway.

"Do you need a drive home?" Jesse asked with a smile.

"Uh, sure.." Quinn replied, they started to walk down the hallway towards the door, "So Rachel seemed happy, are you two back together?"

Jesse shook his head, "Nope, I think things are over for good now."

"Really?" Quinn tried hard to hide her excitement but she was afraid that a bit slipped through.

"Yup. I'm definitely single." Jesse grinned as his eyes drifted to Quinn.

"Good to know."

Jesse and Quinn walked out to the parking lot, they found his range rover and drove away. The only thing they didn't know was that Puck had been watching from the school's entrance.


	9. Chapter 9

_i was actually kinda nervous about posting the previous chapter.. i'm glad that it got positive reviews though. i had been a bit worried lol. also, what would Quinn/Jesse's couple name be? Juinn? Quesse? Quinnesse? St. Fabray? idk lmao._

Friday. The day had finally arrived. Today was Jesse's last day of high school. Forever. Today was the day that he graduated. Jesse was wearing his cap and gown with a nice suit underneath. The ceremony had already began. The speeches were given and now students were being called up to get their diplomas. Jesse tried to be patient as he wanted for his name to be called. It was a hard thing to do. He could see friends of his who had received their diplomas before him. He wanted to join them, get his own so that graduation would be official for him as well.

_"Jesse St. James."_

It was time. Jesse walked up onto the stage. He stood with the principal who gave him the diploma. A permanent smile was fixed on the young man's face. Diploma in one hand he shook his principal's hand with the other. Both men looked to the crowd, posing for the professional photographer that was taking pictures of all the graduates. Jesse then recieved a rose from a member of the school board. After that Jesse went with the rest of his class while they continued to wait for the rest of the names to be called. It was an incredibly warm day in Ohio but right now that was the least of Jesse's worries. Everyone there was sweating but he was too excited to care.

It took a while but before he knew it the principal had said everyones name. The principal told the students to stand and move their tassles, he pronounced them graduates. As soon as they were pronounced graduates each student tossed their caps into the air and began to cheer. There was a balloon release and the audience clapped for the graduating class.

The ceremony was over. Finally. Hours of sitting around in the heat wasn't fun but to Jesse it had been worth it. Graduates were sticking around, looking for their families and taking pictures. Jesse had no family to look for. His parents were away on some 'business trip'. Nothing new there. Quinn on the other hand was supposed to be around there somewhere. Jesse just needed to find her.

Jesse cut through the crowd, searching for the blonde. His eyes scanned the area, suddenly he spotted her. "Fabray! Hey! Over here!" He shouted as he rushed over to her.

Quinn was wearing a pretty blue dress that went down to just above her knees. She had a thin, white cardigan over the dress. Her baby belly was still there and it would be for a while however as soon as she felt up to it she planned on starting a major exercise routine. The graduation ceremony had been a pain to sit through due to the heat but Quinn was so proud of Jesse. She couldn't wait to see him.

Quinn had been standing around, talking with an older lady when she heard Jesse call her name. She turned around to see him rushing toward her. "Jesse! Oh my gosh, congratulations!" Quinn exclaimed happily as she went in for a hug.

Quinn let out an excited squeal that was mixed with giggling because instead of a normal hug Jesse had wrapped his arms around her and spun around, lifting her into the air.

"How did you do that?" Quinn asked, laughing when he set her back down.

Jesse kept his arms around her, "I have no idea! I probably just threw out my back but I'm too excited to care! Quinn, I just graduated! I'm done! Yessss!" Jesse's tone was the happiest Quinn had ever heard him. He spoke quickly due to his excitement. He was hyper, very hyper. He made Quinn smile.

"I know! I'm so proud of you!" Quinn declared, "And look at you, all handsome in your gown. Wait, where's your cap?"

"Oh, uh." Jesse looked to the ground. When he hugged Quinn he sorta dropped his diploma and cap. "Right here!" He stated with a grin as he picked up both objects and put the cap on Quinn's head.

Quinn laughed, "How do I look?" she made a funny face which caused his smile to grow even larger, if possible.

"Amazing."

"Thank you" She replied with a cheeky grin, "So are you ready for pictures?"

Jesse looked confused, "No.. I thought we'd just head out?"

"And miss tons of kodak moments? I don't think so!" Quinn put his cap back on his head, "I have a camera.. Even brought someone to take pictures for us."

"Huh?" Jesse looked at Quinn who turned around to reveal an older blonde woman.

"Jesse, this is my mother."

Jesse looked at the older woman. He kept one arm around Quinn's shoulder and used the other to shake her mother's hand. "Mrs. Fabray, it's nice to meet you.." He said politely.

"It's nice to meet you too Jesse I've heard a lot about you but please, call me Judy." The woman smiled at Jesse as she shook his hand.

Jesse was confused. As far as he knew Quinn wasn't close with her family anymore because her dad had kicked her out. He would definitely have to ask her about this later.

Judy took out a camera, "Alright, you two get ready and smile."

Jesse held Quinn close, they both smiled. They way he held her, it was like how couples posed for prom pictures. They took some goofy pictures, pictures of them separated, Jesse stood alone with his diploma for a couple but then the picture taking ended with a final picture of Quinn kissing Jesse on the cheek. It was supposed to be another picture of them smiling but at the last second Quinn stood on her tiptoes to kiss him.

"Quinnie, you need to go now." Judy said while putting the camera away, "Are you ready?"

"I'll meet you at the car mom." Quinn replied and her mom nodded.

Quinn looked up at Jesse, "So do you have any plans tonight?"

"Well there's some graduation party.. if you have a better idea I might be willing to skip it."

"Trust me, I do. I want you to meet me somewhere." Quinn went on to tell Jesse an address.

"Hm, that place sounds familiar.. I don't know why.." Jesse commented, "But okay, I'll meet you there after I get changed?"

"Sounds perfect."

Quinn smiled and then went off in the direction that her mother had went in.

Jesse went home and got changed. He changed into a blue v neck shirt and a pair of green, sweat shorts. It was a pretty relaxed look, more casual than how he normally dressed but he was getting tired and felt lazy. He drove to the address that Quinn had given him and as soon as he saw the house he knew why it seemed familiar to him. It was Shelby's house.

Jesse knocked on the door, Quinn answered, "So I hope that you're alright with this.. I mean I know you could've went to that party and this might not seem like the most fun way to spend a Friday night but it's my first time babysitting her and I was hoping that you'd help me." Quinn rambled nervously as she let him inside.

"We're gonna babysit Beth?"

"Yeah.. You don't have to stay if you don't want to.."

Jesse looked down at her, her dress had been replaced with a pair of pajamas bottoms and white shirt. Her hair was in a messy bun. Jesse couldn't figure out if she looked more beautiful now or when she was dressed up. "Can we go see her now?"

Quinn smiled and let out a sigh of relief, "Of course. She's upstairs with mom. If you weren't going to stay she was going to."

They walked upstairs and found Judy in nursery holding Beth.

"Mom, I guess Jesse is gonna stay so.." Quinn's voice trailed off, "Oh sure, I'll leave you to alone." Judy handed Beth to Quinn. Quinn's face lit up as she held her daughter. Before leaving the room Judy spoke again, "You know, she looks just like you. I'll have to bring some of your baby pictures next time.."

"That'd be nice. Goodnight mom."

"Goodnight. If you two need any help just give me a call."

"Mhmm" Quinn was losing interest in her conversation with her mother. Her focus was on the beautiful baby in her arms.

Once they were alone Jesse spoke, "She's incredible Quinn. I guess it's my turn to be proud of you." His eyes stayed on Beth, "I'm confused though. What's going on with your mother and where is Shelby?"

"A couple days ago my mom came to see me. She kicked my dad out. Apparently he had been cheating on her. She asked me to come live with her again but I declined the offer. I said that before I could even consider living with her again she needed to earn my friendship and trust back."

"Good for you."

"Yeah.. As for Shelby, I thought about what you said, I wanted to be in Beth's live so I talked to Shelby about it. Tonight she's out with some friends. She's going to give me some time with Beth but if I feel like I'm under too much pressure I'm just supposed to call and she'll come home early. If I don't call she's going to take her time."

"Sounds like we're in for an interesting night then."

"Do you want to hold her?"

"Uh.." Jesse paused, "Well, yeah.. I would.. but I've never exactly held a baby before.."

Quinn gave him a reassuring smile, "It's easy. You just need to remember to support her head and neck."

"Okay.. well could I sit down first?" He asked, he was still nervous. It was cute.

"Sure. Why don't we go downstairs? We can sit on the couch, watch some tv?"

Jesse nodded and they both went downstairs. When they entered the living room Jesse sat down on the couch first. "Okay.." Quinn carefully handed Beth to him. "I can't believe I'm doing this.." He mumbled quietly. "You're doing fine." Quinn told him. She turned on the tv and began flipping through the channels. The baby stared up at him. Jesse was scared that she was going to burst out crying. Beth stayed silent. Jesse couldn't believe how small she was. He let her play with his hand, she had a loose grip on his thumb. He smiled.

Quinn watched this happen, it was like Jesse was in his own little world that only involved Beth. Seeing him hold her was a very adorable sight. She sat down beside them and cuddled into Jesse. "I think she likes you."

"You think?"

"I do."

The evening had a smooth start. The two teenagers watched tv, kept Beth entertained and ordered Chinese food for supper. It was about eight o'clock when Beth began to fuss. Quinn was back upstairs in Beth's room. She was sitting in a rockin' chair trying to get the baby to settle. Jesse was in the kitchen warming up some milk.

"Here you go." Jesse walked into the room and handed Quinn the bottle. This was her first time feeding Beth. As soon as she was given the bottle Beth calmed down. Quinn let Beth drink from the bottle and then stopped to burp her. This continued until the bottle was empty.

Jesse watched Quinn with her daughter. Seeing them together made him smile. It was a good feeling. He was glad that Quinn had decided to be a part of Beth's life.

Beth was getting sleepy. It was making her cranky.

"Aw, stop fighting it honey.." Quinn spoke with a soft tone as she rocked the baby. Beth continued to fuss. Jesse stood watching. "Can you take her?"

"um, you're doing fine aren't you?" Jesse had been doing well with Beth earlier but now that she was fussing he wasn't so sure that him holding her would be a good idea.

"I have to pee."

"Right. Okay. I'll try." Jesse switched places with Quinn. He sat down in the rockin' chair and Beth was put back in his arms.

Quinn left them alone.

"Beth.. stop fussing.. please.." He said pitifully as he rocked in the chair. Jesse began thinking. What would make a baby stop crying? He got an idea. Singing. It was worth a shot.

In a soft, gentle voice Jesse began singing a song that he felt was appropriate.

_"__Edelweiss, edelweiss, every morning you greet me.."_

Quinn finished up in the bathroom and when walking back to the bedroom she could hear Jesse singing Edelweiss from the Sound of Music. She peered in the room, not wanting him to see her because for a guy who had been worried about holding a baby he was doing an excellent job. Beth's crying was beginning to stop. She focused on Jesse's voice however her eyes started to close. The baby tried to blink but she was losing it. Jesse continued to sing the song over and over again, softly until he was sure that she was asleep. He let out a sigh of relief.

"You did good St. James." Quinn walked back into the room.

"Thanks.."

Quinn took the sleeping baby from his arms and put her in her crib. Quinn motioned for Jesse to follow her. They took a baby monitor and went back downstairs.

"Let's play 20 questions" Jesse suggested when they reached the couch.

"Okay sure." Quinn continued, "you go first."

"Alright, we'll start off easy. What's your favorite color?"

"Pink!"

"Mines blue."

"Hm, what's your favorite food?" Quinn asked

"It's a tie between Chinese food and pizza. I can't choose."

"I think I agree with you. I love them both."

Jesse's question was next, "Penguin or polar bear?"

"Penguin! They're so cute! Especially the babies!"

"But polar bears are so soft! and huge! If I had a polar bear I'd train it so that I could ride it around."

"Good for you. Penguins are still better though!"

"Shush, just ask your question."

Quinn thought about it for a minute, "Pancakes or waffles?"

"Waffles. Hands down."

"Me too."

He smiled, "Beach or pool?"

Quinn pouted, "That's a hard one! I mean the beach is more romantic, at night anyway, plus I like tanning at the beach however at a pool you can just float around on those blow up matresses or chairs. Plus pools have a deep end."

"And no jelly fish!" Jesse reminded her.

"Valid point, I choose pool."

The questions got sillier as they went on. Jesse got the final question. He knew exactly what he was going to ask. He had set up this whole game just so he could. The only problem was that he didnt' know how she'd react.

"Alright. What would you do if I said that I planned on falling in love with you?"

"Seriously?" Quinn was caught off guard by his question. A shocked expression took over her features. He had went from asking all of these foolish questions and now this?

Jesse nodded, "Yeah."

Quinn felt herself smile and also blush, "I'd be completely fine with that."

"Good because you really didn't have a choice." Jesse stated before he pulled her close and planted a gentle kiss on her lips.


	10. Chapter 10

_mkay so a minor setback.. we moved to the cottages which i'm happy about however we don't have internet up here yet.. my mom call on monday to get the internet changed but it still hasn't arrived yet. :( but on a positive note how cute was jon groff at the tony's? lea sat in his lap when singing and i was fangirling like an idiot, especially since jon was all smiley and then started to clap. SO ADORABLE. just saying. _

Summer. This was a season that celebrated heat, beaches and bikini clad women. Most teenagers spend their summers relaxing, partying and working on their tans. So far the summer was a depressing thought for Quinn Fabray. Summer was a season that she had always loved but things were different this year. The bikini body that she once had was gone. It was replaced with the body of a young girl who had just given birth weeks earlier. A bikini was the last thing that she wanted to wear right now. She didn't want to wear any bathing suit. The way her body has become bothered her. Going to a beach full of fit people just reminded her of what she once had. With each day the weather was getting warmer but she put off going to the beach. She tried her very hardest to avoid it.

Jesse had made the suggestion of going to the beach several times but whenever he did this Quinn would make up an excuse for why they shouldn't go. She'd say things like she didn't feel well, that she didn't have a bathing suit or that she just wasn't in the mood. All of these excuses weren't lies, they just weren't the full truth.

McKinley High felt so abandoned during the summer. Quinn felt weird being the only student there. Why was she there you might ask? She was there to see Sue Sylvester. Quinn had contacted Sue because she knew that she was the only person out there that could help get her previous body back. Sue was only doing this because she wanted to have her best Cheerio again. She even agreed to start slow which Quinn was surprised about. Quinn didn't think that Sue would be so understanding about giving birth.. or understanding about anything really but whatever, Quinn was satisfied.

As Quinn was making her way to the exit after a long work out she heard music coming from the choir room. She recognized the voice immediately. Rachel Berry. However her song choice confused Quinn. She was giving a very angry rendition of Carrie Underwood's Before He Cheats.

"Rachel.. What are you doing here?" Quinn questioned as she entered the choir room. It looked the same as it always had during glee, just more empty.

"Being the leader of glee club I was given a key so that I could get into the choir room for extra practices or emergencies." Rachel explained, "Um, why are you here?"

"Work out.. Ms Sylvester is helping me."

Rachel's eyebrows furrowed as a worried look took over her features, "Shouldn't you wait a while longer before trying to lose weight? What if you hurt yourself?"

"My doctor said it was fine."

"Your doctor doesn't know Sue Sylvester."

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

There was an awkward silence.

"So.. how's Jesse?" Rachel asked as she began to put sheet music away.

"Fine. How's Finn?"

"I don't know.."

"But I thought you two worked things out?"

Rachel shook her head sadly, "I thought so too."

"Then what happened?" Quinn pushed.

"Santana that's what."

Quinn's eyes locked on Rachel who now looked like she was going to start crying.

"Rachel, I.. I don't understand.."

"They slept together.."

The water works started. Quinn moved closer to Rachel. "I'm really sorry.. but please don't cry. Don't waste your tears on him."

"B-but y-you wasted y-your t-t-tears on him." Rachel stuttered through the tears.

Quinn gave her a one arm hug, "Learn from my mistake."

Rachel wrapped her arms around the slightly taller girl. She gave her a huge hug and the crying slowly began to stop. "Quinn I don't know why you're doing this but thank you.." Rachel wiped at her eyes when she pulled away.

"Well I know that my boyfriend still really cares about you. If I didn't try to help he wouldn't be pleased." Quinn stated, "Plus, when you're not being insanely annoying I kinda like you."

Rachel raised her eyebrow, "Really?"

"Kinda. Don't push it." Quinn looked at Rachel and then at the door, "How about we get out of here? Maybe go shopping?"

Quinn's excuse for going shopping with Rachel was that she knew that Jesse would approve. Secretly Quinn did like Rachel. The girl was dramatic and generally she was always getting on Quinn's last nerve however there was something about her that interested Quinn. Rachel had a big heart. She was nice and being her friend might be good for Quinn. Although Rachel would never learn about the fact that Quinn had confronted Jesse after the egging. That she had stuck up for her. That was something Quinn preferred to keep a secret.

The girls made their way around the mall. Quinn decided to try getting a bathing suit. She bought the prettiest one piece suit she could find. She had Rachel give her opinion on it and was surprised that she was okay with how it fit her body. Rachel also bought a bathing suit. Quinn had helped her pick out a bikini. Quinn didn't even want to think about the bathing suit Rachel had at home. Knowing her it would probably be covered with ridiculous looking flowers or have a huge animal on it.

"I don't understand why I have such bad luck with guys." Rachel complained as she walked with Quinn out of a store, "Maybe I should just forget guys. I could join the convent, become a nun."

Quinn couldn't help but laugh, "Don't you think that's a bit dramatic, even for you?"

"I guess.. I really couldn't anyway considering I'm Jewish.." Rachel sighed, it amused Quinn because it almost sounded like Rachel was actually disappointed that this plan wouldn't work.

"What a shame." Quinn's tone was sarcastic but her eyes caught view of something that made her smile.

Jesse was walking with another handsome boy. They were deep in conversation, laughing and chatting away as they walked.

"Let's go say hi" Rachel stated once she realized who Quinn was staring at.

The girls wandered over to the boys.

"Hey!" Quinn greeted happily when they reached her boyfriend and his friend.

"Hey" Jesse smiled when he saw Quinn and was confused when he saw Rachel but the smile continued, "Doing a little shopping?" He glanced down at both of their shopping bags, "Oh I can take those if you want." Jesse added quickly, looking at Quinn but then at Rachel.

"It's okay. We're fine." Quinn said on behalf of her and Rachel, "Thanks anyway though." Rachel added with a smile.

The other boy let out a fake cough, pretending to clear his throat to remind Jesse that he was there.

"Right." Jesse stated, "Mase, I'd like you to meet my girlfriend Quinn and my good friend Rachel." He pointed to each girl as he spoke, "Girls, this is my cousin Mason Scott."

"Cousin and best friend!" Mason corrected with a smile, "It's nice to meet you both." He looked back at Jesse, "But seriously dude, why wasn't I informed about this earlier?"

"Well you were away and then at graduation I didn't see you.. I don't know. Everything happened so fast.. it's been hectic. I guess I haven't had time?" Jesse shrugged, "I'm sorry?"

Mason held out his hand, "Give me your phone."

Jesse sighed and gave pulled his iphone out from his pocket.

Mason pointed at the phone, "Do you see this thing? It's a cellular device, you can use it to talk to people." He turned the phone on, "See that guy in the picture? Yeah, that's me." He pointed at himself in the picture, showed it to Jesse and then the girls. It was a picture of him and Jesse at a what Quinn suspected to be a family event. The boys were just sitting around with big smiles on their faces. "My hair was really working for me that day.." He said more to himself than the rest, "But that's not the point. The point is that you can use this cellular device to call people.. people like me! And the good thing about these cell phones is that if you don't feel like talking you can always text! It's very easy, a little keyboard comes up. It's like a computer but smaller! Technology these days, it's a wonderful thing. So use it Jesse! I would've loved to hear about this" He pointed at Quinn but his eyes stayed on Jesse, "How you ended up with her as your girlfriend I will never understand because she is crazy beautiful. As for your friend.. she's pretty beautiful too." Mason's eyes floated to Rachel who had been standing beside Quinn, both girls giggled through his rant but now Rachel blushed slightly at his words.

Jesse snatched his phone back from Mason. "Don't get any ideas bud, she's taken too."

"Actually she's sworn off men for a while." Quinn shot in. Rachel nodded, "Yes, I'm single and I plan on keeping it that way."

Mason hung his head in disappointment, "Just my luck."

Jesse patted Mason on the back, "So yeah, I'd like to apologize for that rant he just gave and for things he'll probably do in the future. Masey is.. well.." Jesse paused, "Who am I kidding, he's crazy. You never know what this kid is gonna say. I'm hoping that eventually you two will accept him. He can become oddly amusing once you get used to him."

"I don't know if I should be insulted or not.. I like to think that my foolishness is oddly adorable but I guess amusing works too." Mason commented.

"Jesse you do realize that you're mixing crazy and dramatic right?" She teased with a giggle as she looked at Rachel and then at Mason, "This could be dangerous for us."

"There's only one way to test this out? How about we head back to my place? We could get some take out, watch a movie or something?" Jesse suggested.

They all agreed and left the mall so that they could go to Jesse's house.

_tadaaaa. so yeah, i'd like you to all say hello to mason scott! he's jesse's cousin/best friend and in my mind i'd like to have him played by john gallagher jr so when you think of mason, think of john as well xD also i'd like some feedback on mason. do you think he'd make a nice addition to the gang?_


	11. Chapter 11

_bleeeh. this internet thing is driving me crazy. mom called again today (monday) and found out the problem. the dumb person working there didn't sign the right papers to get people to send us internet but now that they know their mistake we're supposed to get it on wednesday but i don't believe it lol on the plus side we did get two baby kittens :D jesse & jules _

This was going to be Quinn's first time at Jesse's house. Whenever they hung out it was either at Mercedes's house, Ms Corcoran's house or just a random spot. It was never at his house. Quinn was curious about his place. He knew that his parents were hardly ever home so it would nice to see how he lived.

Jesse and Mason left in Jesse's range rover. Quinn and Rachel followed in Rachel's dad's car. Ten minutes passed and then the teenagers arrived at their destination. Quinn's eyes looked the house up and down. It was a fairly big house, two stories. The outside was nice, grey with white trim and matching black shingles and shutters. The group walked inside.

"Welcome to casa St. James." Mason's voice boomed as they entered the large house.

"Yeah, what he said. Um, it's a little messy but make yourself at home." Jesse was attempting to pick up a few coats and put them on the proper hooks.

Quinn and Rachel couldn't figure out what he was talking about. The only mess they saw was the coats and that was hardly a mess considering what Quinn's room looked like.

"I don't think this qualifies as a mess." Quinn began but was cut off by Rachel, "It's surprisingly clean. Like really clean. I'm impressed." She smiled at Jesse.

"Well okay good. I'm glad that you two approve." He replied with a smile of his own.

"Food." Mason demanded.

"Right!" Jesse walked further into his house. "What do you guys feel like eating? I'm open to suggestions."

"Pizza." Mason spoke again.

The girls giggled, "It seems like this boy knows what he wants." Rachel commented, "Yeah but he needs to remember his manners." Jesse stated as he found a cordless phone. Mason rolled his eyes jokingly. They were now in the living room. Quinn, Rachel and Mason had taken a seat on the couch.

"Does pizza work for everyone else? Feel free to object, Mase doesn't need to get his way if you two want something else." Jesse flashed a teasing yet evil grin at his cousin.

"Pizza is fine with me." Quinn stated politely, "I like pizza." Rachel agreed.

"Okay, pizza it is." Jesse dialed the number and began pacing as he waited for someone to answer on the other line. Quinn was watching him, as soon as the waiter answered Jesse told them the order they had decided on but while doing so he continued to pace. Not only did he pace but he also ran his hand through his curls which led to him scratching the back of his head for a moment.

"So Mason, is Jesse the only singer in the family or do you both share the talent?" Rachel asked with great interest. She was curious. Jesse was a very talented performer, did his cousin share the passion? If so why wasn't he a part of Vocal Adrenaline or had she just failed to notice him before.

Mason answered with a shake of the head, "Nah, I'm not very good. My singing is restricted to a private audience only, mainly my shampoo bottles and anything else that's located in the bathroom."

Rachel frowned slightly.

"He's just being modest." Jesse said now that he was re-entering the conversation, "Mase has an awesome voice but he's wasting his talent. He only performs karaoke or for his shampoos. It's a shame really."

Rachel perked up at Jesse's comment.

"Karaoke huh?" Quinn mused with a grin, "Do you guys do that often?"

"Well considering the fact that Mr. Music Obsessed owns almost every SingStar game ever made I'm gonna go with yes." Mason could sense Quinn's amusement. He had a feeling that he knew where this was headed.

"I want to see! Jesse, please set it up. I want to hear your cousin's voice." Rachel's excitement was very noticeable. Jesse couldn't say no to that.

"Sure, why not. It's about time that Mase started singing for someone else other than family anyway." There was a flat screen tv in the living room. Underneath the tv's stand there was a playstation 2. Jesse turned the playstation and tv on and then used the remote to change the tv to the proper channel. SingStar Pop came up on the screen as Jesse picked up the mics. He handed a mic to Mason and held onto the other one as he took his seat beside Quinn on the couch.

"So what are we doing? Teams? Individual? Pass the mic or duets?" Mason questioned while gripping the mic with his left hand.

"Individual! Please! You need to sing by yourself, I want to hear it." Rachel demanded in a cheerful tone.

Mason let out a soft groan, "Fine.. but once I get this over with we should do duets."

"That's the spirit." Quinn teased sarcastically as she looked at Mason who was sitting beside her. Jesse was on Quinn's other side and Rachel sat beside Mason. Mason turned up the volume on the tv and hit the random pick option. The video to You're Beautiful by James Blunt started playing. Mason had the blue mic so when the blue strip made contact with the words he began to sing. He hit each note perfectly. Quinn snuggled closer to Jesse while Mason sang. She was surpised at how good Mason's voice actually was. He was very talented just like Jesse. Clearly their family had good genes when it came to vocals.

When Mason was actually trying his best he would go into his own little world. Jesse knew that he was there now. Just by watching Mason you could tell that he was, his eyes were glued to the screen but during some of the notes they closed. For just a game of karaoke Mason was showing a lot of passion. Jesse's eyes wandered over to Rachel, her jaw had lowered slightly in awe. Jesse chuckled lightly to himself at the sight.

Rachel was impressed. Considering that Mason was Jesse's cousin she had hoped that he would have a good voice too but the way his voice actually sounded? It was better than what she had expected. Way better. She liked it.

The song finished. Mason handed a mic to Rachel, "Was it all you hoped for?" He questioned with a smirk.

"Wow, Jesse was right. This is a shame. I can't believe that you've kept your talent hidden for so long. You could've been on Vocal Adrenaline, I'm sure of that. With a little work you probably could've helped them win at Regionals." Rachel's eyes locked with Mason's as she spoke.

"Thanks but no thanks. Vocal Adrenaline's full of snobs with the exception of Jesse plus Ms. Corcoran kinda scares me."

"Ms. Corcoran is my mother.." Rachel's voice suddenly changed. It sounded less confident and more confused. Vulnerable too.

"She's also the woman who adopted my daughter." Quinn added, she looked over at Rachel who had gone quiet.

Awkward. Mason sighed, "Well.. small world.. uh, Jess if you could smack me and then help me get my foot out of my mouth that'd be good."

"Shelby isn't scary.. just intense." Jesse offered, "She's hard working, determined and passionate about what she does. I think that they're positive qualities."

The door bell rang.

"Oh! The pizza's here! I'll get it!" Mason quickly jumped at the oppurtunatey to get out of this situation. He hopped off the couch and rushed out of the living room to answer the door.

"Are you alright Rachel?" Quinn asked timidly once Mason had left the room.

Rachel nodded her head slowly but it was obvious that she was unsure, "Yeah.. I guess..I don't know. I mean I'm not close with Shelby, I probably won't ever get the chance to be now..I need to get over the idea of her being my mom but I can't help but feel weird when people mention her."

"What makes you think that you won't get close to her?" Jesse's voice was soft and reassuring. He had a good relationship with her mother. In all honestly Shelby had been more of a guardian to him than his own parents.

"She has Beth now." Rachel stated simply.

"So?" Quinn's daughter was being brought into this mess now. She didn't know how to feel about this either.

"Quinn, don't get offended by this but to be honest I'm jealous. Beth will be able to do everything I missed out on with Shelby. Shelby wanted a baby and now she has one. I've always wanted a mother, why can't I get what I want to?"

Quinn and Jesse didn't know what to say to this. The conversation had changed from jokes to a serious issue.

"Hey Jesse, I need some cash." Mason stuck his head in the room. It broke the silence that had taken over the three teenagers. "Here." Jesse took his wallet from his back pocket and threw it to Mason who disappeared again once he caught the wallet.

"Does Shelby know that you feel this way Rachel?" Quinn felt bad. Maybe she should've denied Shelby when she asked for Quinn's permission to adopt Beth. At the time Rachel hadn't even crossed Quinn's mind. Quinn had just been thinking about the pain she had went through and that she wanted to see Jesse. Add those thoughts with the realisation of who is going to take your child and you get a full mind. There wasn't room for anything else.

"No.." Rachel answered.

"I think you should tell her. Maybe you and her could work something out?"

"Maybe.. we'll see.."

The PS2 controller was still in Jesse's hands. He began to flip through the different song choices. I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) by Whitney Houston came up.

"I want to try that song." Rachel told them.

Jesse felt that, that was a good idea. Singing usually made Rachel feel better. They needed to get out of this depressing mood and back into a fun one. He set the game up for her and since she was already holding a mic he let the song start.

Rachel began singing along with the song. Her voice sounded perfect, as usual, however her score on the other hand wasn't something to be proud of. Rachel's blue bar wasn't matching up with the grey ones. It would skim them before going either higher or lower than what was needed.

Mason walked back into the living room with the pizza box. He set it on the coffee table next to the couch. He was also impressed by Rachel's voice however he grinned at her pitiful score. The game didn't even give Rachel the chance to finish. It cut her off early because of her score.

"Tone deaf?.." Rachel read the words off the screen, she sounded devastated.

"Have you ever played this game before?" Mason asked, trying to hide his grin.

"No.. but it's a singing game so I figured I'd be okay.." Rachel mumbled, slightly insulted by the game's rude comment and his smirk.

"Hm, okay. I got this. To make up for my idiotic behavior I shall teach you the ways of SingStar." Mason declared as he snatched the controller from Jesse's hands.

Jesse stood up, "While you do that I'm gonna go get plates and some drinks so that we can eat this pizza before it gets cold." Quinn got up too. "I'll help." He took her hand and led her out of the room.

Mason and Rachel could be heard from the kitchen. "To play SingStar you don't need to be a good singer." Quinn heard Mason tell Rachel, "You just need to be able to hit the pitch the game wants. Here, take the mic and do this. Ahhhhhhhhh" He held out the note and lowered his register. Rachel did what Mason had told her to do and watched the screen. The pitch was lower than what needed. "Good, now try going higher until you match it." Rachel tried again and then giggled excitedly once she matched the note. "I did it!" "Yes! Now keep trying! Once you get that down try singing the words instead!" Mason coached with a smile.

In the kitchen Jesse was grabbing plates and Quinn was getting cans of soda from the fridge. "So are you having a good time?" Jesse asked casually and set the plates on the counter for a moment as he looked at his girlfriend. Quinn also set the cans down, partially because holding four cans was slightly difficult and because she wanted to hug Jesse which she did. Quinn wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him she smiled, "Of course, I always have fun when I'm with you. You make me happy." She admitted with a cute grin, "Good" Jesse placed his hands on her waist, "I'm glad because you make me happy too." He pecked her lips.

Quinn felt that her baby belly still got in their way however she still didn't want to let go of Jesse. She couldn't wait until she lost more weight. She longed to see how her body was supposed to fit with Jesse's.

Quinn's lips were pressed against Jesse's when she could feel him smiling against them. "We should probably go back in there.." He laughed a little, Quinn shook her head and kissed him again, "No. I don't think they'll miss us." Quinn said between kisses. "But what about supper? It'll get cold." Jesse pointed out, "Microwave." Quinn kissed him again, "Fabray, come on. We've got to go back in there. Bring the sodas." Jesse said finally. It had been hard to pull away from her embrace but somehow Jesse had built up enough strength to do so. Quinn sighed, "Fine.."

Mason and Rachel were using the duet mode now, they were singing Baby One More Time by Britney Spears. They were both rocking out with goofy smiles on their faces. Jesse and Quinn laughed at this.

"Seems like someone's getting better." Jesse commented, "I've taught her the ways.. of the force!" Mason spoke quickly but then went back to singing the song with Rachel. The four friends spent the rest of the night eating pizza and playing SingStar. Jesse and Mason were forced to sing Survivor by Destiny's Child which was.. interesting. Rachel and Quinn had a good time singing Girls Just Wanna Have Fun. Quinn and Jesse struggled through Feel Good Inc by Gorillaz. The rap defeated them. Basically it was a night full of laughs and it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.


	12. Chapter 12

_i finally have internet! :D:D:D also i decided to try writing another st fabray fic since people seem to enjoy this one. i feel that world needs more st fabray out there. it's a shame that they don't have many fans. but yeah, if you want you should check it out =] Also, I have a question. Who do people want to see Rachel with?_

It was the middle of August, September was looming closer and closer with each passing day. After spending long and rigorous hours with Sue Sylvester Quinn had almost gotten her previous non-pregnant body back. Also, a fantastic discovery had been made. No stretch marks! Quinn was thrilled with this. All through out her pregnancy she had been nervous that she'd end up with some. She had worried about whether or not she should give away Beth, about the stretch marks and what her life would have in store for her after giving birth. Beth had a wonderful home with Shelby, no stretch marks and having Jesse as a boyfriend caused her worries to disappear.

After the night where Quinn had met Mason he seemed to become a part of their little gang. She had even started hanging out with Rachel more. Rachel and Mason got along surprisingly well, Jesse had informed her that the two had even starting hanging out on their own. Quinn was still living with Mercedes who has become slightly fond of him. Sometimes if Jesse drops by Mercedes will actually stick around to visit with him but mostly she spends her time with Kurt.

Quinn hated to think about September. She hated that it was August. Things between her and Jesse were so good, the thought of him moving to New York crushed her. What's worse is that they barely talked about what was going to happen. If the subject was brought up Jesse usually tried to avoid it. It would get changed in a matter of seconds. Quinn was nervous, if he didn't want to talk about it did this mean that he was hiding something? Would he break up with her before he left? Quinn knew about Jesse's dramatic plan with Rachel, he wouldn't dare try doing something like that with her would he?

Mason was also avoiding topics. He was avoiding the truth. Rachel knew that Jesse was moving to New York so that he could attend Julliard. What she didn't know was that Mason was going with him. Mason and Jesse were to be roommates. Mason planned on going to New York University to study the photography, film and video programs there. Mason hoped to become a photographer however being a film maker interested him to. Rachel didn't know about this and he knew that he had to tell her. The boys needed to leave soon.

Rachel was at the dance studio. Every Saturday morning she spent hours practicing her dancing. Mason couldn't understand this. He knew that Jesse had a similar routine however Mase felt that they were both crazy, Saturday mornings were for sleeping in and watching cartoons. Today was a different Saturday morning for Mason. Today he had forced himself to get up early so that he could go talk to Rachel. Saturday cartoons would have to wait. He needed to do this.

Mason wandered into the dance studio after parking his car in the parking lot. He had been there before on different occasions however the building still felt foreign to him. He could hear music playing so he followed the sound. The sound led him to Rachel, thankfully. She was in one of the rooms dancing by herself. He almost didn't want to go in because she seemed so concentrated and at one with the music. He wished that he had his camera.

The boy walked in silently. Immediately Rachel stopped dancing. She looked at his reflection in the mirror. His facial expression seemed sad. This worried her. Rachel turned to face him.

"Mason, what are you doing here?" She asked, "Why aren't you still asleep?"

"Can't a guy come visit his friend? I didn't know that spending time with you was a crime."

The goofy grin that Rachel had become accustomed to seeing showed up. She smiled at him, glad that he was only joking.

"I'm glad that you're here. Just surprised that's all. You had me worried for a second there."

Mason came closer to her, "Would you be able to take a break for a minute Rach? I need to talk to you about something.."

"I thought I told you not to call me Rach." She complained, "And I told you that I don't care if you don't like it. I like nicknames so get used to it." Mason replied quickly.

Rachel pouted, normally when she pouted around Mason she would get her way. Today he wasn't having it. "What did you want to talk about?" She asked finally as she went over to pick up her water bottle. She leaned back against the wall while waiting for him to answer.

"Um, well it's about New York.."

His eyes followed her to the wall. He had just moved close to her and she walked away. Should he try again? Maybe being close wouldn't be good. But what if she took the news badly. What if she cried?

"Oh! I was thinking, we should throw a going away party for Jesse! I told Quinn the idea the other day, what do you think?"

Rachel's tone was perky, Mason hated this. He sighed.

"I think if there's going to be a party it'll be for Jesse and me.."

Rachel almost choked on her water. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm going to New York."

"You're lying."

He shook his head sadly.

A lump grew in her throat. Rachel didn't want to believe what he was saying. She had met Mason at the beginning of the summer thanks to Jesse. She spent the rest of the two months getting to know him. He kept her break up with Finn off of her mind. He made her feel better if she was sad. He was easy to be around. She had grown attached to him. He was her best friend.

"You can't go.." She said quietly.

"I have to.. The university is expecting me." Mason stood beside her.

Rachel looked up at him, this time tears were forming.

"Woah, dude, please don't cry." Mason stated quickly.

The tears slowly fell down her cheeks, "Too late.." Rachel wiped at her tears.

"Come on, I don't even know what I'm supposed to do when a girl cries.." Mason mumbled.

"Just hold me." Rachel demanded sadly as she wrapped her arms around his body, hugging him.

Mason followed her instructions. He held her close, "I'm really sorry.." He could feel her sobbing against him while he spoke. He began to gently rub her back. Saturday morning cartoons seemed a lot more appealing then this. Graduating from high school was supposed to be a good thing. So far it just seemed to cause depressing events.

Quinn was bored. To cure her boredom she decided to go to Jesse's house. She drove over to his place. It was very familar to her now. She spent most of her days there. After knocking on his door she greeted her boyfriend with a smile and a quick kiss on the lips. "Hey! I hope you don't mind me dropping by. I was bored so.." Her voice trailed off as she walked inside. "It's no problem at all." Jesse stated, also smiling.

"What are you up to?" Quinn asked, she kicked off her shoes as she spoke but soon enough she realized for herself what he had been doing. She could see it, at the top of the stairs were suit cases. Before he could answer she spoke again, "You're packing aren't you.."

Jesse rubbed the back of his head nervously, "Uh, yeah.. kinda.. I needed to start because we're leaving soon.."

"We're? As in we? Who's we?"

"Me and Mason."

"Mason's leaving too?"

Jesse nodded, he walked upstairs. Quinn followed. "Yeah, he's going to university in New York also.. we're going to get an apartment together." He explained while picking up an empty suit case and carrying it to his bedroom.

Quinn looked around the room. It was a mess. There was already a suit case full of clothing and the items that hadn't been packed yet were everywhere. She sat on his bed and sighed.

"Are you going to break up with me?" Quinn blurted out after a moment of silence. The thought had been on her mind for days. She finally got up enough courage to ask. She hoped that she had enough courage to face his answer.

Jesse seemed shocked, "No, what gave you that idea?"

"Well when you were dating Rachel you went through with that plan to break up with her so that things wouldn't be hard when you left.. so that you wouldn't have to have a long distance relationship.." Quinn's voice was a mixture of sadness and nervousness.

Jesse put down the clothes he was holding and sat beside her on the bed. "That was different.."

"How was that different?" Quinn interjected, "You were dating her, you broke her heart because you knew you'd have to leave! What's stopping you from doing that to me?" Quinn refused to cry right now. She didn't want to seem helpless even if that's how she felt.

Jesse frowned, "I knew that Rachel wouldn't be able to handle a long distance relationship. You know that's the reason I broke up with her. I'm glad that I did it though."

"How can you be glad that you broke someone's heart?"

"Well I'm not happy about that.. I still feel bad about it. What I'm happy about is that it brought us together. If you hadn't decided to stick up for Rachel we never would've happened."

Quinn crossed her arms, "I don't see where you're going with this.."

"Listen, I know that you'll be able to survive a long distance relationship. That's why this is different. I'm sure that we'll be able to stay together even when I'm gone."

Quinn looked at him, her eyes full of worry. "How can you be so sure?"

Jesse met her gaze, "I love you. I don't plan on letting you get away."

Quinn gently touched his cheek, her finger tips touched his curls when she cupped his neck pulling his face close to hers. Their lips connected. "I love you too.." This was the first time that Quinn had ever said those words to Jesse. It felt good. Scary but good. She knew that she meant them. She just didn't want them to get abused. "I really hope you're right about us.. that we'll survive this. It's going to be really hard. Unbearably hard."

"I never said it was going to be easy.."

"Promise that you'll call me a lot? I know you don't like talking on the phone but I want more than texts while you're gone.."

"I'll call you everyday if you want." Quinn felt herself smiling, "I'd like that." She replied, "We'll have phone calls, texts, emails, msn, webcams. There are lots of things we can do." he commented.

"I think I'll be the most excited for holidays. I'm gonna want to come visit and of course you'll need to come visit me too."

"Of course." He repeated with a smile of his own, "Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, we'll spend time on them all. Or at least try to."

"Good. Having something to look forward to might make this crappy situation better. You had better try your hardest at this school. I don't want to go through all of this for nothing!" Quinn was half joking but also slightly serious.

"Hey now, you don't want me to try too hard do you? I can't imagine you wanting to talk to me on the phone if I've lost my voice." he said jokingly.

"Actually that wouldn't be that bad. I'd just talk more and make you listen"

"Fantastic."

"You'll love it."

Jesse rolled his eyes before starting to pack again. He spent the evening with Quinn. She helped him continue packing but eventually they ended up at Shelby's house. Quinn wanted him to spend more time with baby Beth before he left. Jesse didn't even think about objecting, he loved that little girl. Quinn wasn't the only one he'd miss when he was gone. Being in New York meant that he'd be away from both of his girls. When he was around Quinn he tried to be strong but the idea of leaving was bothering him more than what he let on. It scared him. He was going to Julliard, what if he arrived there and they realized that he wasn't good enough? What if Quinn were to lose interest in him while he was gone? There were so many what ifs. None were good.


	13. Chapter 13

_heeey xD so i'd like to say that you st fabray fans should check out tumblr! people are beginning to make loads of graphics, it makes me happy :D also i have decided who rachel shall be with. it was a hard decision but then i realized something that made me decide. my reasoning will be at the very end so read this chapter to find out the truth!_

The drive to the airport was full of silence. Jesse drove, Quinn was in the passenger's seat, Mason and Rachel sat in the back seat. No one really knew what to say. Each of them had been preparing for these goodbyes but now that it was finally time for them to take place it seemed like they were all at a loss of words. The only emotion that the group didn't have a problem sharing was sadness.

They arrived at the airport. Jesse parked his range rover, slowly the four teenagers got out and then began to pick up the boys' luggage. They all carried it into the building. Jesse and Mason's plane was set to leave at 8:00am. Currently it was 7:15. "We'll be back, wait here." Jesse said finally. He asked the girls to stay by the chairs in the waiting room while they went to go deal with their boarding passes, luggage and security.

The boys were taking off their shoes, jackets, and belts so that they could put them onto the x-ray machine. "I'm not sure how I feel about taking my shoes off in a public place.. This floor could be covered with germs." Mason stated while putting his wallet with the other items, "Dude, you're wearing socks." Jesse replied, "So? If I step on something.. like gum for example, I'm still going to feel it and I'm assuming that it'll be gross."

Jesse walked through the metal detector. "I can't believe we're actually discussing this right now." His voice had a hint of annoyance in it. Mason followed him, taking his turn through the metal detector, "I'm sorry.. I'm just nervous about this. I'm not good with goodbyes.. especially ones that involve girls.." Jesse sighed, their items had went through the x-ray and were confirmed to be okay so the boys began to put them back on, "I know.. I'm not looking forward to it either. I don't want to be away from Quinn."

"I don't want to be away from Rachel either.. She's my best friend. Finding someone who will put up with my quirkiness is a hard thing to do."

"No kidding." Jesse smirked while tightening his belt.

Mason gave him a look, "Just hurry up. We don't have much time left."

"Yeah, yeah.. I'm coming."

Quinn anxiously smoothed out the wrinkles in her dress. She was tired, nervous and above all sad. She didn't want her boyfriend to leave but she also didn't want to seem like she wasn't supportive. She was very proud of him. He was meant to be a star and this would be helping him get there. Quinn wanted all the best for Jesse, she honestly did. She just wished that he could be successful closer to home. Or that she was older so that she could go with him. Darn their age difference.

Rachel sat beside Quinn. Her hands were shoved into her sweater pockets. She let out a soft sigh. She couldn't figure out which was the worse; the drive here or waiting for the boys to return from security. "There they are." Rachel told Quinn, both girls looked up to see Jesse and Mason walking back over to them.

"Hey." Jesse said, Quinn stood up from her seat and hugged him. As soon as her arms wrapped around his larger form Quinn pulled him away from Rachel and Mason so that they could talk privately. Jesse's hands fell instinctively onto her waist. He gripped her protectively. "I can't believe I have to leave in a few minutes.." He spoke softly, their gazes locked. "I can't believe it either.." Quinn agreed and then continued, "Are you sure that you want to do this? You can still back out if you want to.. Last chance?" Jesse gave a gentle laugh, "Hun, I'm sure that I want to go. It's something that I need to do." Quinn hugged his body tighter, "I know.. How much longer do I get with you?" Jesse checked his watch, "Almost five minutes, unfortunately." "This sucks." Quinn pouted, "You really should say goodbye to Rachel too.." She pointed out causing him to nod, "Yeah, let's go back over now.. I need to pull Mason away from her anyway."

"So are you ready for this?" Rachel questioned awkwardly, "I don't know," Mason admitted, "I've never been out of state before.. This'll be my first time on a plane. It's nerve-racking." Rachel's hands were still shoved in her pocket, "Well I might have a little surprise that'll make the flight better." A small smile took over her features, "Oh really? I love surprises." Rachel removed one of her hands from her pocket, in her hand was his ipod. "Hey! I knew that I was missing something!" Mason exclaimed, "What were you doing with this?" Rachel giggled, "It's part of your surprise silly. I made you a special playlist." She handed him the ipod, "Oh, I understand. That's awesome! Thank you." Mason was about to turn the ipod on when Rachel spoke again, "Mason, wait! Don't listen to it until you get on the plane." Mason pouted jokingly, Rachel giggled but shook her head, "Don't even try that. I want you to wait!" "Fine.."

"Mase, ready to go?" Jesse questioned when he and Quinn returned to their friends.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Mason put his ipod into his pocket.

Jesse looked at Rachel, "I guess this is it.. Good bye Rachel Berry."

"And goodbye to you Jesse St. James." She replied, pulling the boy close to her for a hug.

"Take care of my girl while I'm gone." He gave her a little squeeze before pulling away, "I will, you'll have nothing to worry about. I'll make sure that she stays out of trouble."

"Speaking of trouble.." Quinn stated, "Masey, you need to make sure that Jesse isn't attacked by girls once they all realize how talented and adorable he is."

"Actually I think that Jesse should be the one making sure that Mason doesn't get into trouble." Rachel pointed out with a playful grin.

"I don't need a babysitter! I'll be fine on my own!" Mason complained which caused the other three to laugh.

"Sure dude, whatever you say." Jesse grinned.

Jesse and Mason's flight was called.

Mason hugged Quinn and said his goodbye. He then hugged Rachel, "Bye Rach." She kissed his cheek, "Goodbye Masey." Mason was surprised to hear the nickname come from her lips. All summer she had went on and on about how she disliked nicknames. He wondered what had changed her mind.

"Goodbye Quinn" Jesse hugged her tightly, "Do I get a kiss goodbye?" He asked quietly, "I don't know.. I think if I start kissing you I won't be able to stop." Quinn looked up at him, "Luckily for you that's a risk I'm willing to take." She grabbed onto the lapels of his sports coat and pulled him closer so that their lips could touch. Jesse deepened the kiss in a matter of seconds. He ran his fingers through her hair, not wanting to let go. "I love you" Quinn said between kisses, "I love you too." Jesse echoed.

Their flight was called again.

Jesse reluctantly ended the kiss. "Call me as soon as you arrive, okay?" Quinn demanded, "Okay, I promise." The four friends said another final goodbye and then the boys went to board the plan. They handed the worker their boarding passes to be scanned and once they were accepted they walked down the hallway leading them to the plan.

"This thing is huge!" Mason commented when they finally got onto the plane.

"That's what she said." Jesse grinned which made Mason laugh.

"Nice one."

Jesse and Mason found their seats. Jesse claimed the window seat. Mason was quite amused by the built in TVs. Suddenly he was no longer worried about the plane ride.

"Nervous?" Jesse asked casually, his eyes were glancing around the inside of the plane.

"Nah, I figure that as long as the left phalange is okay we'll be fine." Mason said using a Friends reference which made Jesse smile to himself.

"Good to know."

"Plus Rachel made me a special playlist.. Speaking of which I suppose I can check that out now." Mason pulled his ipod out of his pocket. He turned the device on and looked at the list of playlists. At the very bottom there was one called Rachel. He selected it and the song started to play. It was Lucky by Jason Mraz feat. Colbie Caillat.

_you make it easier when life gets hard_

_lucky i'm in love with my best friend_

_i'll wait for you, i promise you_

Different lyrics jumped out to him, lyrics that he felt related to them. The song played through, he stayed silent for a minute once it stopped. Mason looked down at his ipod, Lucky was the only song there. He bit his lip nervously. The plane took off. He barely noticed. Once they were in the air he looked over at Jesse, "Dude.. um.. you know Rachel pretty well right?"

Jesse nodded, "Yeah.."

Mason showed Jesse the song on the playlist Rachel had made for him. "There's a message behind this isn't there.. or am I just over thinking it?"

"Definitely a message.." Jesse's eyes looked from the ipod and back at his cousin, "I'd say that you've gained a real fan in Rachel Berry."

_Mkay, no one freak out but I've decided to make Rachel interested in Mason. I know that lots of you wanted her with Puck and I really did consider this however I came up with a valid reason on why she shouldn't be with him.. in this fanfic at least lol. So considering that Puck is Quinn's baby daddy and their baby, Beth, went to Shelby who is Rachel's mom wouldn't that make Beth & Rachel sisters? kind of? Basically I don't think that Rachel should be dating her adopted sister's dad. It's kinda weird._


	14. Chapter 14

_i hope that you guys are ready for another chapter because here it is :D hope it's okay. oh, and keep reviewing, feedback is good =]_

It didn't take long for Jesse and Mason to get used to New York City. The main problem they faced were the late night sounds. People weren't kidding when they called it the city that never sleeps. In Lima, the evenings were always quiet. In NYC, it seemed like the city would get it's second wind at night. Other than that their move went splendidly. Their new apartment was nice. It had enough room for them and all of their belongings.

University was interesting too. It was definitely different from high school, it was an improvement really. Jesse was thrilled to be at Julliard. His vocal course was great, he enjoyed participating with performers that were up to his level. Mason often teased him at the end of the day, he stated that the course was basically made up of a room full of Jesses and Rachels. Even though it was a joke Jesse almost agreed, everyone that went to Julliard was incredibly talented. He still felt blessed that he was able to attend.

The downside of this new life was being away from Quinn. It had only been a couple weeks but Jesse missed her like crazy. The couple talked on the phone every day, they texted and tried their best to stay in contact but it just wasn't the same. Jesse missed being able to see her smile, he missed seeing how happy she was when they spent time with Beth, he missed the way his and her body fit together. To sum things up he missed everything about her. This whole long distance relationship thing wasn't going to be a good time.

Being away from Quinn was hard but he wasn't willing to give up. He wanted to keep their relationship alive, if he lost her he wasn't sure what he'd do. Jesse St. James was in love, as strange as it might be. There had been different occasions where the boy had thought he had been in love but after his relationship with Quinn had began he realized that he had been wrong.

Today Jesse was excited. As a part of keeping their relationship alive Jesse and Quinn had organized a date. A web cam date that is. Currently Jesse was preparing for the date. He had an hour to kill before he was needed at his laptop. Minutes earlier Jesse had, had a shower and now he was standing in front of his closet. His feet were planted firmly on the floor, his eyes stared at the clothes that were hanging up. They started on one side of the closet and slowly moved to the other, taking in each article of clothing they passed. It might seem cheesy but Jesse wanted to make the date as perfect as he could. He was treating it as if they would actually be in the same room.

Finally Jesse decided on his attire. He chose a white button up shirt and a black vest with a pair of jeans. Now that, that had been decided it was time for another task; fixing his hair. Jesse left his bedroom and re-entered the bathroom. He took in his reflection, looking over his outfit to make sure things looked okay. He then rolled up his sleeves. Jesse ran his fingers through his hair, it was still partially wet from his shower. Using a little bit of gel and patience Jesse fixed his hair to perfection.

Now that he looked the part he needed to order food. Quinn and Jesse had decided that getting pizza would be a good idea. It was easy to get and even though they were far apart it would taste the same. Jesse awkwardly ordered garlic fingers and a pizza with the toppings that he and Quinn normally got. Once he finished the phone call he checked his watch, it was almost time for the date to begin. Jesse made his way over to the kitchen table, he opened up his laptop and started it up. Mason was gone for the evening, he was out spending time with some of his new friends. Jesse was thankful for this, he was glad that Mason had given him an opportunity to be alone with Quinn.

In Ohio, Quinn Fabray was having similar problems to what her boyfriend was having. She was also putting a lot of thought into this date. She had showered and took her time choosing an outfit. Choosing an outfit had been a difficult task, she wasn't sure how people were supposed to dress for skype dates. Was it supposed to be casual? Dressy? Casual yet dressy? She was nervous that if she chose the wrong outfit she might either be overdressed or even worse, underdressed. Quinn knew that Jesse wouldn't care what she wore but she wanted to impress him. She wanted to remind him of what was waiting for.

Quinn ended up choosing a black dress with a floral pattern on it along with a yellow cardigan. She also decided to keep her hair straight tonight. She then ordered the pizza and garlic fingers. As soon as she was finished with the phone call Quinn turned on her laptop. It was time, she logged on and waited for Jesse to accept the invitation to the video chat.

Jesse was sitting at the table, his eyes lit up when the first message popped up. In a matter of seconds he had eagerly accepted the invitation. A smile grew on his face when Quinn's face took over his screen.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Quinn asked nervously with a quirky smile.

Jesse turned up the volume on his laptop, "Yeah, can you hear me?"

"Yes..." She let out a soft giggle, "Hi."

"Hi." Jesse couldn't pull his eyes away from the screen.

"You look handsome." There was still a smile on Quinn's face when she spoke. Jesse hoped that it wouldn't disappear.

"Thank you" His smile would most likely be stuck on his face forever, "You look beautiful. Your webcam really doesn't do you justice." He added with a grin.

"Thanks.. Gosh, I bet my voice sounds stupid because of this darn webcam. Recordings always make it sound weird."

"You sound fine! Really, you do. It's nice to finally see you and hear your voice."

"I agree.."

There was a short silence where the two simply stared at each other through the computer screens. The silence was broken by Jesse's pizza arriving. He excused himself from the date so that he could go answer the door. He paid for his meal and took it over to the table. When he got back Quinn was away from the computer also. It turns out that a moment after Jesse had left to get his pizza Quinn's pizza had also arrived. Talk about good timing.

"Mmm, this smells good." Jesse commented before taking a bite of his first slice.

"Mmm, it tastes good too" Quinn added after taking a bite of her own.

"So how are things in Ohio?"

"Good! I have some news actually" Quinn beamed when she spoke.

"Oh really? What is it?"

"Well, I've finally lost all of that weight I gained when I was pregnant."

"Congratulations!"

"Wait, I'm not done! I'm a Cheerio again!"

Jesse loved seeing her excitement. It made him smile even more. "Wow, I'm dating a cheerleader now.. I can't believe this."

"Oh you had better believe it." she grinned, "I can't wait to show you my uniform."

"Trust me, I can't wait to see it." He flashed a boyish grin and winked.

Quinn rolled her eyes playfully, "Well in other news Beth is doing great. I still visit her each week. I'm sure that I made the right decision by giving her to Shelby. Shelby seems a lot happier ever since she adopted Beth, it's nice."

"That is definitely good news. I miss Beth but I'm glad to hear that she's doing well."

"She misses you too. We all do."

There was an awkward pause but then Quinn spoke again, "How are you and Mason holding up?"

"Things are pretty good, Mason is actually out with some friends right now. I think he's really enjoying his photography and film classes."

"And what about you? Is Julliard offering you everything you need?"

Jesse nodded, "Julliard is incredible. Sometimes I still can't believe that I got in."

"Sweetie, you deserve this. Going to any other university would've put your talent to waste."

"Thanks, that means a lot.."

Jesse and Quinn continued to eat their pizza. They spent most the rest of their night discussing random things and having some good laughs. It was obvious that they both wished that this could've been a real date instead of skyping but right now it was all they could have. Holidays were closing in, before they knew it they'd be reunited again.


	15. Chapter 15

Lima, Ohio never changed. Kids always hung out in the same spots, the same Christmas decorations were always hung and the small town always turned into a ghost town at exactly eight pm. The same cliques were formed once again at McKinley High however new freshmen wormed their way into them as well. The problem with freshman students was the tryouts. Quinn was resuming her role as head cheerleader thanks to Sue's intense summer training. Cheer leading tryouts came with the territory of head cheerleader and they were never fun. They were boring. A bunch of young hopeful girls would enter the gym where they would find Sue and her Cheerios waiting to crush their dreams. It would start off with Sue scaring two thirds of the group away (which Quinn was fine with) and then the last third would attempt to show the Cheerios their 'skills'.

As if sitting through the cheerleading tryouts wasn't agonizing enough Quinn was forced to sit through more. Glee tryouts. New Directions had been surprised, never in a million years had they expected other students to willing ask to join their club. Anyone wanting to tryout was basically signing themselves up for a daily slushie facial that would last for the rest of their high school career. Despite the slushies joining glee was a good decision, Quinn gave up on trying to deny it because the truth was; she enjoyed it. She loved being able to sing and dance, she loved making new friendships and learning how to look out for others.

After glee club Quinn went back to her locker to pick up her homework. Shutting her locker, she was startled to see Puck standing beside her. "Gosh, way to give me a heart attack." Quinn exclaimed getting a better grip on her text books.

"I tend to have that affect on women." Puck leaned against the lockers, he crossed his arms; the boy wasn't even trying to be subtle, he was flexing with all his might.

"How nice for you?" Quinn started to walk away from the lockers.

Puck followed her. "So, when are you going to admit that you want me? It's obvious that you still do."

Quinn stopped in her tracks, "What?"

"You're the head cheerleader again, I'm the football player, we're supposed to date. It's like a high school rule or something."

Quinn shook her head, "Um, how about no? Puck, I'm dating someone."

"Then dump the loser for me." Puck stated calmly.

"Jesse is not a loser!"

"You're still dating that Jesse kid? I thought he left for university?"

Quinn nodded, "He did, he's been gone for at least a month."

"A month? You should definitely date me then."

"I'm not going to date you Puck, get that through your thick skull."

"Fine. Whatever but just so you know if Jesse's been gone for a month then he's definitely cheating on you. There's no way a guy can last that long without sex."

Puck walked off leaving Quinn baffled by his comments. The nerve! Who did he think he was? Did he really think he'd be able to get away with demanding that she date him again and then suggest that her boyfriend was cheating on her? Jesse would never cheat on her! He loved her! Puck was wrong. He didn't know what he was talking about.

Quinn tried to keep telling herself that she was right and Puck was totally off but she couldn't help but doubt herself.

_'There's no way a guy can last that long without sex'_

Jesse was lasting more than a month without sex. Jesse had lasted months. During the beginning of their relationship Quinn had been very self conscience about her body but could you blame her? She had just given birth! Speaking of giving birth, that was another reason why Quinn didn't want to have sex. She still felt guilty about losing her virginity to a boy she wasn't in love with however she didn't regret it because Beth made it all worth wild. Due to the experience of giving birth Quinn knew that from now on she didn't want to have sex with anyone know matter what her feelings were telling her, she wanted to wait until marriage.

Jesse was very understanding about Quinn's views on sex. Maybe a little too understanding. It's official, Quinn Fabray was paranoid. Ever since her chat with Puck thoughts flooded her mind about Jesse hooking up with a woman his age in New York. Perhaps a woman who was equally as talented, a fellow student at Julliard, someone who shared his interests.

Quinn needed reassurance. She wished that Jesse wasn't so far away. Right now all she wanted was to be taken in by his sweet embrace. She wanted a hug. It was as simple as that. A hug was what she needed. A nice, warm hug along with some kind words, maybe another I love you or you have nothing to worry about. Both would be welcomed.

She felt pitiful being so worried like this. Quinn had went from being the head cheerleader to the knocked up glee clubber but was now rebuilding her status by being a Cheerio again. She hated being seen as helpless. She didn't want people to see her weaknesses. One of her main weaknesses was Jesse. Why Julliard? Why didn't he wait for her?

Quinn sighed, how was she supposed to focus on English homework when her boyfriend may or may not be off frolicking around with a secret girlfriend miles away from where she was? The blonde leaned against her pillows. She blinked when she noticed a familiar brunette standing in her doorway.

"Rachel?"

Rachel entered the room, "I hope it's okay.. Mercedes let me in."

"Yeah, of course, you just startled me that's all." Quinn replied as she moved over on the bed to let her friend sit with her.

Rachel laid down beside her, "I miss Mason."

"I know, I miss Jesse too."

"But at least you know for sure that you're dating Jesse! I still wonder where I stand with Mason. Sending him that song was an idiotic idea." Rachel sighed and crossed her arms.

"I thought he said that he felt the same way?"

"He did.."

Quinn pressed on, "And didn't he say that he wanted to be with you too?"

"Well yeah.."

"Then what's the problem here?" Quinn questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"It feels like there's a million miles between us.."

Quinn put her arm around Rachel, giving her friend a one armed hug, "Trust me, I know the feeling."

Rachel rested her head on Quinn's shoulder, "Long distance relationships suck."

"I second that."

"And we still have to wait at least a month until we can see them in person again."

Quinn nodded sadly, "but doesn't absence makes the heart grow fonder?"

"Gosh, I hope so." Rachel replied, "Do you suppose they feel as sad as we do?"

"Oh of course, Mason is probably crying into Jesse's sweater ruining the thread count as we speak."

The girls giggled at the thought. It was nice having Rachel around. Quinn was enjoying their friendship. Not to mention it was nice to have someone who was experiencing the same feelings as she was. Rachel could relate to how Quinn was feeling. Rachel knew how badly Quinn wanted for Jesse to return.

Quinn's mind was focused on her conversation with Puck. She looked at Rachel. They had gotten close over the summer, she could share something like this with her right?

"Puck was being a real jerk today." Quinn said.

"What did Noah do this time?" Rachel asked, at this point she was casually flipping through tv channels.

"After glee club he cornered me in the hallway demanding that him and I start dating again. I guess I'm popular enough to fit his standards." Quinn told her, clearly annoyed.

"Did you tell him that you're still dating Jesse?"

Quinn nodded, "That made things worse. Puck went on about how guys can't last long without sex. That Jesse must be cheating on me."

Rachel dropped the remote, "Don't think that. Don't even consider thinking about it. The idea of Jesse cheating on you is as likely as me never getting a solo again. It'll never happen. That boy loves you and considering you just had a baby I think he's going to be understanding about sex."

Quinn had been nervous about sharing this with Rachel but once again she was glad that she had. "I really hope that you're right... and Rachel?"

"Yes?"

Quinn locked eyes with her, "I'm really sorry about how I treated you. I just wanted you to know that."

Rachel smiled, "I know, apology accepted. I should go."

"But it feels like you just got here?"

"I know, I go to bed at ten o'clock remember? It's almost nine fifteen. If you add the car ride home, night time glass of water and getting ready for bed all together that'll be cutting it too close!" Rachel explained while getting up.

Quinn laughed, Rachel Berry was the only girl she knew who had created a bedtime for herself. "Fine, thanks for coming over. I'll see you tomorrow at school."

Rachel nodded, "Goodnight Quinn."

Quinn was alone once more. She decided to follow Rachel's example by getting ready for bed. In a matter of minutes Quinn was clad in a pair of pajamas, laying comfortably in her bed. Now it was time for sleep. The young girl closed her eyes and hoped that tomorrow would be a better day. Why did life have to be so hard?


End file.
